Establishing the inter-rater reliability of spinal cord damage manual measurement using magnetic resonance imaging

David P. Cummins; Jordan R. Connor; Katherine A. Heller; Joshua S. Hubert; Megan J. Kates; Katarina R. Wisniewski; Jeffrey C. Berliner; Denise R. O’Dell; James M. Elliott; Kenneth A. Weber; Andrew C. Smith

doi:10.1038/s41394-019-0164-1

Establishing the inter-rater reliability of spinal cord damage manual measurement using magnetic resonance imaging

David P. Cummins, Jordan R. Connor, Katherine A. Heller, Joshua S. Hubert, Megan J. Kates, Katarina R. Wisniewski, Jeffrey C. Berliner, Denise R. O’Dell, James M. Elliott, Kenneth A. Weber, Andrew C. Smith

Physical Therapy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Study design: Retrospective study. Objectives: To establish the inter-rater reliability in the quantitative evaluation of spinal cord damage following cervical incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) utilizing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI was used to perform manual measurements of the cranial and caudal boundaries of edema, edema length, midsagittal tissue bridge ratio, axial damage ratio, and edema volume in 10 participants with cervical incomplete SCI. Setting: Academic university setting. Methods: Structural MRIs of 10 participants with SCI were collected from Northwestern University’s Neuromuscular Imaging and Research Lab. All manual measures were performed using OsiriX (Pixmeo Sarl, Geneva, Switzerland). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to determine inter-rater reliability across seven raters of varying experience. Results: High-to-excellent inter-rater reliability was found for all measures. ICC values for cranial/caudal levels of involvement, edema length, midsagittal tissue bridge ratio, axial damage ratio, and edema volume were 0.99, 0.98, 0.90, 0.84, and 0.93, respectively. Conclusions: Manual MRI measures of spinal cord damage are reliable between raters. Researchers and clinicians may confidently utilize manual MRI measures to quantify cord damage. Future research to predict functional recovery following SCI and better inform clinical management is warranted.

Original language	English
Article number	20
Journal	Spinal cord series and cases
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-019-0164-1
State	Published - Dec 1 2019

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. ACS, KAW, JME, DRO, and JCB were supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under award number R03HD094577. KAW was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse under award number T32DA035165 and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke under award number K23NS104211. JME and ACS were supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under award number R01HD079076. ACS was supported by the Regis University Research and Scholarship Council.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, International Spinal Cord Society.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Neurology
Clinical Neurology

Access to Document

10.1038/s41394-019-0164-1

Cite this

Cummins, D. P., Connor, J. R., Heller, K. A., Hubert, J. S., Kates, M. J., Wisniewski, K. R., Berliner, J. C., O’Dell, D. R., Elliott, J. M., Weber, K. A., & Smith, A. C. (2019). Establishing the inter-rater reliability of spinal cord damage manual measurement using magnetic resonance imaging. Spinal cord series and cases, 5(1), [20]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-019-0164-1

@article{53d815c45c1d4dfe97d2f500ac57e4e9,

title = "Establishing the inter-rater reliability of spinal cord damage manual measurement using magnetic resonance imaging",

abstract = "Study design: Retrospective study. Objectives: To establish the inter-rater reliability in the quantitative evaluation of spinal cord damage following cervical incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) utilizing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI was used to perform manual measurements of the cranial and caudal boundaries of edema, edema length, midsagittal tissue bridge ratio, axial damage ratio, and edema volume in 10 participants with cervical incomplete SCI. Setting: Academic university setting. Methods: Structural MRIs of 10 participants with SCI were collected from Northwestern University{\textquoteright}s Neuromuscular Imaging and Research Lab. All manual measures were performed using OsiriX (Pixmeo Sarl, Geneva, Switzerland). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to determine inter-rater reliability across seven raters of varying experience. Results: High-to-excellent inter-rater reliability was found for all measures. ICC values for cranial/caudal levels of involvement, edema length, midsagittal tissue bridge ratio, axial damage ratio, and edema volume were 0.99, 0.98, 0.90, 0.84, and 0.93, respectively. Conclusions: Manual MRI measures of spinal cord damage are reliable between raters. Researchers and clinicians may confidently utilize manual MRI measures to quantify cord damage. Future research to predict functional recovery following SCI and better inform clinical management is warranted.",

author = "Cummins, {David P.} and Connor, {Jordan R.} and Heller, {Katherine A.} and Hubert, {Joshua S.} and Kates, {Megan J.} and Wisniewski, {Katarina R.} and Berliner, {Jeffrey C.} and O{\textquoteright}Dell, {Denise R.} and Elliott, {James M.} and Weber, {Kenneth A.} and Smith, {Andrew C.}",

note = "Funding Information: Acknowledgements The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. ACS, KAW, JME, DRO, and JCB were supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under award number R03HD094577. KAW was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse under award number T32DA035165 and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke under award number K23NS104211. JME and ACS were supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under award number R01HD079076. ACS was supported by the Regis University Research and Scholarship Council. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019, International Spinal Cord Society.",

year = "2019",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1038/s41394-019-0164-1",

language = "English",

volume = "5",

journal = "Spinal cord series and cases",

issn = "2058-6124",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "1",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Establishing the inter-rater reliability of spinal cord damage manual measurement using magnetic resonance imaging

AU - Cummins, David P.

AU - Connor, Jordan R.

AU - Heller, Katherine A.

AU - Hubert, Joshua S.

AU - Kates, Megan J.

AU - Wisniewski, Katarina R.

AU - Berliner, Jeffrey C.

AU - O’Dell, Denise R.

AU - Elliott, James M.

AU - Weber, Kenneth A.

AU - Smith, Andrew C.

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. ACS, KAW, JME, DRO, and JCB were supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under award number R03HD094577. KAW was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse under award number T32DA035165 and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke under award number K23NS104211. JME and ACS were supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development under award number R01HD079076. ACS was supported by the Regis University Research and Scholarship Council. Publisher Copyright: © 2019, International Spinal Cord Society.

PY - 2019/12/1

Y1 - 2019/12/1

N2 - Study design: Retrospective study. Objectives: To establish the inter-rater reliability in the quantitative evaluation of spinal cord damage following cervical incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) utilizing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI was used to perform manual measurements of the cranial and caudal boundaries of edema, edema length, midsagittal tissue bridge ratio, axial damage ratio, and edema volume in 10 participants with cervical incomplete SCI. Setting: Academic university setting. Methods: Structural MRIs of 10 participants with SCI were collected from Northwestern University’s Neuromuscular Imaging and Research Lab. All manual measures were performed using OsiriX (Pixmeo Sarl, Geneva, Switzerland). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to determine inter-rater reliability across seven raters of varying experience. Results: High-to-excellent inter-rater reliability was found for all measures. ICC values for cranial/caudal levels of involvement, edema length, midsagittal tissue bridge ratio, axial damage ratio, and edema volume were 0.99, 0.98, 0.90, 0.84, and 0.93, respectively. Conclusions: Manual MRI measures of spinal cord damage are reliable between raters. Researchers and clinicians may confidently utilize manual MRI measures to quantify cord damage. Future research to predict functional recovery following SCI and better inform clinical management is warranted.

AB - Study design: Retrospective study. Objectives: To establish the inter-rater reliability in the quantitative evaluation of spinal cord damage following cervical incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) utilizing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). MRI was used to perform manual measurements of the cranial and caudal boundaries of edema, edema length, midsagittal tissue bridge ratio, axial damage ratio, and edema volume in 10 participants with cervical incomplete SCI. Setting: Academic university setting. Methods: Structural MRIs of 10 participants with SCI were collected from Northwestern University’s Neuromuscular Imaging and Research Lab. All manual measures were performed using OsiriX (Pixmeo Sarl, Geneva, Switzerland). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were used to determine inter-rater reliability across seven raters of varying experience. Results: High-to-excellent inter-rater reliability was found for all measures. ICC values for cranial/caudal levels of involvement, edema length, midsagittal tissue bridge ratio, axial damage ratio, and edema volume were 0.99, 0.98, 0.90, 0.84, and 0.93, respectively. Conclusions: Manual MRI measures of spinal cord damage are reliable between raters. Researchers and clinicians may confidently utilize manual MRI measures to quantify cord damage. Future research to predict functional recovery following SCI and better inform clinical management is warranted.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85068862285&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85068862285&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41394-019-0164-1

DO - 10.1038/s41394-019-0164-1

M3 - Article

C2 - 31240117

AN - SCOPUS:85068862285

SN - 2058-6124

VL - 5

JO - Spinal cord series and cases

JF - Spinal cord series and cases

IS - 1

M1 - 20

ER -

Establishing the inter-rater reliability of spinal cord damage manual measurement using magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this