POS0264 THE EMERGING ROLE OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN INTERSTITIAL LUNG DISEASE IN SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS: EVIDENCE FOR ULTRA SHORT TE AND COMPRESSED SENSING VIBE ACQUISITIONS AS PROMISING TOOLS FOR THE EVALUATION OF PARENCHYMAL ALTERATIONS
Authors: N. Landini, M. Orlandi, M. Occhipinti, C. Nardi, L. Tofani, S. Bellando-Randone, C. Bruni, M. Matucci-Cerinic, G. Morana, S. Colagrande
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2021)

Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a frequent complication and the major cause of death in Systemic sclerosis (SSc). Computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard imaging technique to assess ILD but is burdened by exposure to ionizing radiations that limits its use for the follow-up. MRI sequences with Ultra Short Echo Time (UTE) are promising for ILD. Objectives: We tested two MRI sequences, UTE Spiral VIBE and Compressing Sensing (CS) VIBE, in SSc-ILD, in comparison to chest CT. Methods: SSc patients with suspected-ascertained ILD were evaluated for undergoing CT-MRI examinations in the same day. Two radiologists visually scored the extent of ground glass opacities (GGO), reticulations, honeycombing and consolidations on CT-MRI. The sum of alteration was assumed as ILD extent. A quantitative texture analysis (qCT) was also performed on CT. Cohen’s k was adopted for interreader concordance in ILD detection. MRI sensitivity and specificity in ILD detection were evaluated. Lin’s concordance was adopted to compare extent analysis between readers and between CT (visual and qCT analysis) and MRI sequences. Results: 54 patients performed both CT and MRI. MRI interreader concordance was moderate in ILD detection, while ILD and GGO extent analysis showed good or very good concordance. UTE Spiral VIBE had a sensitivity and specificity in ILD detection of 95.8% and 77.8%, while alterations extent analysis obtained a very good concordance with CT for ILD and GGO. CS VIBE showed a sensitivity and specificity in ILD detection of 46.7% and 95.0%, but a slight or fair concordance with CT in all alterations’ extent analysis. Conclusion: MRI UTE Spiral VIBE sequences are helpful in the evaluation of SSc-ILD. Larger cohorts of patients will be needed to confirm that MRI may be useful in clinical practice, reducing the radiological load of chest CT References: [1]Romei C, Turturici L, Tavanti L, et al. The use of chest magnetic resonance imaging in interstitial lung disease: a systematic review. Eur Respir Rev. 2018;27(150):180062. Doi:10.1183/16000617.0062-2018 [2]Miller GW, Mugler JP, Sá RC, Altes TA, Prisk GK, Hopkins SR. Advances in functional and structural imaging of the human lung using proton MRI. NMR Biomed. 2014;27(12):1542-1556. doi:10.1002/nbm.3156 [3]Pinal-Fernandez I, Pineda-Sanchez V, Pallisa-Nuñez E, et al. Fast 1.5 T chest MRI for the assessment of interstitial lung disease extent secondary to systemic sclerosis. Clin Rheumatol. 2016;35(9):2339-2345. doi:10.1007/s10067-016-3267-0 [4]Ohno Y, Koyama H, Yoshikawa T, et al. Pulmonary high-resolution ultrashort TE MR imaging: Comparison with thin-section standard- and low-dose computed tomography for the assessment of pulmonary parenchyma diseases: Pulmonary MRI with UTE in Pulmonary Disease. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2016;43(2):512-532. doi:10.1002/jmri.25008 Disclosure of Interests: None declared