Affiliations: [a] Barunsesang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea | [b] Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA | [c] Mechanical Engineering Department, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea | [d] Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: BumChul Yoon, Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health Sciences, Korea University 145, Anam-ro, Sungbuk-gu, Seoul 136-701, Korea. Tel.: +82 32905684; E-mail:yoonbc@korea.ac.kr
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Mixed use of T1- or T2-weighted magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) in histographic analysis has impeded cross-reference of
studies on fatty degeneration of muscles in patients with back pain. OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to establish the measurement
reliability of histographic analysis for normal and painful paraspinal
muscles between T1- and T2-weighted MRI. METHODS: T1- and T2-weighted MRI at the L4-5 level were performed
in 31 patients with unilateral back pain. Two raters conducted the
histographic analysis on 2 separate occasions. Multifidus, erector spinae,
and psoas major muscles were assessed on both normal and painful sides. RESULTS: Intra- and interrater reliability of the parameters were
generally excellent for both T1- (intrarater: 0.83 ± 0.13 and
interrater: 0.93 ± 0.08) and T2-weighted images (intrarater: 0.93 ±
0.12 and interrater: 0.92 ± 0.12). Histogram width was fair to good
for both kinds of image. Intraclass correlation coefficients were similar
between painful and normal sides. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence that most histographic analysis
parameters had excellent reliability for both T1- and T2-weighted images
allows for cross-reference of the results between the two kinds of image.
Moreover, the results of this study support the availability of histographic
analysis for assessment of fatty degeneration in patients with back pain.
