Comparison of clinical semi-quantitative assessment of muscle fat infiltration with quantitative assessment using chemical shift-based water/fat separation in MR studies of the calf of post-menopausal women

Abstract

Objective The goal of this study was to compare the semi-quantitative Goutallier classification for fat infiltration with quantitative fat-fraction derived from a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) chemical shift-based water/fat separation technique. Methods Sixty-two women (age 61±6 years), 27 of whom had diabetes, underwent MRI of the calf using a T1-weighted fast spin-echo sequence and a six-echo spoiled gradient-echo sequence at 3 T. Water/fat images and fat fraction maps were reconstructed using the IDEAL algorithm with T2* correction and a multi-peak model for the fat spectrum. Two radiologists scored fat infiltration on the T1-weighted images using the Goutallier classification in six muscle compartments. Spearman correlations between the Goutallier grades and the fat fraction were calculated; in addition, intra-observer and inter-observer agreement were calculated. Results A significant correlation between the clinical grading and the fat fraction values was found for all muscle compartments (P<0.0001, R values ranging from 0.79 to 0.88). Goutallier grades 0–4 had a fat fraction ranging from 3.5 to 19%. Intra-observer and inter-observer agreement values of 0.83 and 0.81 were calculated for the semi-quantitative grading. Conclusion Semi-quantitative grading of intramuscular fat and quantitative fat fraction were significantly correlated and both techniques had excellent reproducibility. However, the clinical grading was found to overestimate muscle fat.

Role of thigh muscle cross-sectional area and strength in progression of knee cartilage degeneration over 48 months – data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative

“…Specifically, CV for total thigh muscle CSA, quadriceps, hamstring, vastus medialis, and vastus lateralis were 0.72%, 0.92%, 0.96%, 1.34%, and 1.67%, respectively). Additionally, our group has recently demonstrated high intra- and inter-observer agreement for semi-quantitative grading of fat infiltration using Goutallier's classification (0.83 and 0.81, respectively) 23 .…”

“…MR images were graded based on a Goutallier scale by one radiologist with three years of experience as Grade 0 (no fatty streaks), Grade 1 (some fatty streaks), Grade 2 (more muscle than fat), grade 3 (as much fat as muscle) and grade 4 (less muscle than fat) 21, 22 . A Goutallier-derived correction factor was applied to the CSA values to obtain an adjusted value accounting for intramuscular fat (Grade 0=1, Grade 1=0.90, Grade 2=0.85, Grade 3=0.82, Grade 4=0.70, which is analogous to previously-published studies investigating the relationship between Goutallier grade and fat composition 23, 24 ).…”

Quadriceps and Hamstrings Morphology Is Related to Walking Mechanics and Knee Cartilage MRI Relaxation Times in Young Adults

“…Because the scanned volume was the middle 50% of the thigh for every subject, the segmented slices corresponded to the midsection of the thigh. Intramuscular fat, which would be minimal in these young, healthy, active subjects (Goutallier grade 0, indicating less than 5% fat fraction), 3 was not excluded for the purpose of calculating muscle ACSA. After segmentation, ACSA for each muscle was calculated for each slice, using a routine developed in-house in MATLAB.…”

Imagerie et spectroscopie par résonance magnétique nucléaire du muscle strié squelettique

“…Des changements dans la composition des muscles striés squelettiques ont été systématiquement et régulièrement constatés chez les sujets âgés, même s'ils restent d'une amplitude limitée jusqu'à un âge très avancé. Le pourcentage du signal lipidique intramusculaire double généralement, de 2 à 4 %, entre la deuxième et la septième décennie (Schwenzer et al 2009a ;Alizai et al 2012 ;Csapo et al 2014 ;Morrow et al 2014 ;Azzabou et al 2015a). Pour l'essentiel, cette augmentation repré-sente un véritable accroissement de la teneur lipidique du muscle et elle ne reflète qu'accessoirement la perte de tissu contractile avec l'âge (Csapo et al 2014).…”