Reduced-, and No-Dose Thin-Section Radiologic Examinations: Comparison of Capability for Nodule Detection in Patients Having Pulmonary Nodules

Background: To evaluate the capability of pulmonary MR imaging with zero echo time (ZTE) in pulmonary nodules assessments, using low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) as the reference standard. Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained. Eight-nine consecutive patients (51 males: mean age, 69 years and 38 females: mean age, 71 years) with various pulmonary nodules were examined with chest LDCT and pulmonary MR imaging with ZTE. The interval between two examinations was within two weeks for each patient. Lung images were visually scored by two experienced radiologists who assessed the probability of nodule presence in comparison with LDCT. To compare nodule detection capability of the two methods, consensus for performances was evaluated by means of kappa statistics and χ2 test, and receiver operating characteristic analyses were used to compare diagnostic performance of both methods. Results: There was no significant difference (F = 0.75, p = 0.56) in figure of merit between methods (LDCT, 0.84 Vs. MR imaging with ZTE, 0.86). Intermethod agreements between ZTE MR imaging and LDCT were significant (0.70 ≤ κ ≤ 0.98; P < 0.001). Areas under the curve for pulmonary nodules on LDCT were significantly larger than those on MR imaging with ZTE (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Pulmonary thin-section MR imaging with ZTE was useful in nodule detection, and it is considered at least as effective as low-dose thin-section CT. Legal entity responsible for the study: The authors. Funding: Has not received any funding. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.