It also provides Dibutyryl-cAMP datasheet organ-specific quantificative information about female pelvic organ prolapse-information that usually can only be inferred by means of physical examination. The application of functional radiography to the assessment of defecatory disorders and pelvic organ prolapse has highlighted the limitations of physical examination. It has become clear that pelvic floor disorders rarely occur in isolation and that global pelvic floor assessment is necessary. Despite the advances in other
imaging methods, DCP has remained a practical, cost-effective procedure for the evaluation of anorectal and pelvic floor dysfunction. In this article, the authors describe the technique they use when performing DCP, define the radiographic criteria used for diagnosis, and discuss the limitations and clinical utility of DCP. (C) RSNA, 2011″
“Study Design. A measurement reliability study.
Objective. To develop quantitative measures for Modic changes (MCs) on magnetic resonance (MR) images and evaluate measurement reliability.
Summary of Background Data. MCs have been studied for more than 20 years but the clinical significance remains
controversial. Little effort has been made to improve the measurement of MCs.
Methods. The study was approved by the responsible institutional review board. On the basis of Modic classification, a series of quantitative dimension and signal intensity measures were developed for assessing MCs. Midsagittal T1- and T2-weighted MR images from PFTα cell line 83 lumbar spines were then qualitatively and quantitatively assessed by two observers independently. Kappa and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to examine intra-and inter-rater reliability. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationships between the quantitative measurements of MCs. Mean absolute deviation (MAD) and Bland-Altman plots also were used to evaluate measurement errors and limits of agreement for selected measures.
Results. For Modic classification,
intrarater agreement was excellent (kappa = 0.88) and inter-rater agreement was substantial (kappa = 0.79). Intrarater buy Luminespib agreement also was excellent when obtaining dimension measurements (ICC = 0.82-0.96) from T1- or T2-weighted images and inter-rater agreement was slightly greater using T1-weighted images (ICC = 0.73-0.88) than T2-weighted images (ICC = 0.66-0.82). Signal intensity measurements on T2-weighted images were found to have almost perfect intra-and inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.92-0.99). The correlation analysis demonstrated that the quantitative measures represent different constructs. The MAD and Bland-Altman Plots further confirmed the high reliability of the area ratio, MCs mean signal intensity and MCs total signal intensity measurements.
Conclusion.