Detection of bone marrow edema in osteonecrosis of the femoral head using virtual noncalcium dual-energy computed tomography

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic performance of virtual noncalcium (VNCa) dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) in the detection of bone marrow edema (BME) in participants with osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH).

Methods: In this prospective study, 24 consecutive participants (15 men, 9 women; mean age, 44 years, range, 21-72 years) diagnosed with ONFH who underwent DECT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between September 2019 and January 2020 were involved. Two independent readers visually evaluated color-coded VNCa images using a binary classification (0 = normal bone marrow, 1 = BME). MRI served as the reference standard for the presence of BME. Interobserver agreement for the visual evaluation of VNCa DECT images was calculated with κ statistics. We determined computed tomography (CT) numbers on VNCa images and weighted-average CT sets using region-of-interest-based quantitative analysis. The t-test was used to compare the differences of CT values between BME areas and normal bone marrow areas. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to select an optimal CT values of VNCa images for detecting BME. A p value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

Results: The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of Reader 1 and Reader 2, respectively, in the identification of BME at DECT were 95 % and 89 % (18 and 17 of 19), 96 % and 96 % (25 and 25 of 26), and 93 % (43 and 42 of 45). Interobserver agreement was excellent (κ = 0.86). The VNCa CT numbers of the BME area and the normal bone marrow area were -28.6 (-17.9--39.4) HU and -97.9 (-91.3--104.4) HU, respectively, with statistical significance (t = -10.6, p < 0.001). The weighted-average CT numbers of the BME area and the normal bone marrow area were 152.4(122.2-182.7) HU and 121.1(103.6-183.6) HU, respectively, with no statistical significance (t = -2.0, p > 0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.99 in differentiation of the BME from normal bone marrow. A cut-off value of -57.2 HU yielded overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy, respectively, of 95 % (18 of 19), 100 % (26 of 26), and 98 % (44 of 45) detection of BME in participants with ONFH.

Conclusion: Visual and quantitative analyses of VNCa images shows excellent diagnostic performance for assessing BME in participants with ONFH.

Keywords: Bone marrow edema; Dual-energy CT; Magnetic resonance; Osteonecrosis of the femoral head; Virtual noncalcium.