ArticlePloS one2018
Test-retest reliability of myelin imaging in the human spinal cord: Measurement errors versus region- and aging-induced variations.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Can MRI measure myelin? Systematic review, qualitative assessment, and meta-analysis of studies validating microstructural imaging with myelin histology.NeuroImage · 2021Pooled it
- Spinal cord imaging in multiple sclerosis: from diagnosis to disease progression.Journal of neurology · 2026Review
- Standard Model Imaging in the Brain and Spinal Cord of MS Patients: Initial Assessment and Comparison to Diffusion Tensor Imaging.NMR in biomedicine · 2026Article
- Systematic Review of the Reliability and Reproducibility of Magnetisation Transfer Imaging in Human Cervical Spinal Cord.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Cervical Spinal Cord Magnetization Transfer Ratio and Its Relationship With Clinical Outcomes in Multiple Sclerosis.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2025Article
- Identifying Biomarkers for Remyelination and Recovery in Multiple Sclerosis: A Measure of Progress.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Longitudinal reproducibility of brain and spinal cord quantitative MRI biomarkers.Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Microstructural Damage and Repair in the Spinal Cord of Patients With Early Multiple Sclerosis and Association With Disability at 5 Years.Neurology(R) neuroimmunology & neuroinflammation · 2025Article
- Bridging the gap: improving correspondence between low-field and high-field magnetic resonance images in young people.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Non-invasive assessment of normal and impaired iron homeostasis in the brain.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Quantitative myelin imaging with MRI and PET: an overview of techniques and their validation status.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2023Review
- Comparison of Brain Volume Measurements Made with 0.3- and 3-T MR Imaging.Magnetic resonance in medical sciences : MRMS : an official journal of Japan Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine · 2022Article
- Advanced spinal cord MRI in multiple sclerosis: Current techniques and future directions.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2022Review
- Test-retest assessment of non-contrast MRI sequences to characterise and quantify the small bowel wall in healthy participants.Magma (New York, N.Y.) · 2021Article
- Generic acquisition protocol for quantitative MRI of the spinal cord.Nature protocols · 2021Article
- Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging towards clinical application in multiple sclerosis.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2021Review
- Diffusion MRI microstructural models in the cervical spinal cord - Application, normative values, and correlations with histological analysis.NeuroImage · 2019Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
9 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo implement a statistical framework for assessing the precision of several quantitative MRI metrics sensitive to myelin in the human spinal cord: T1, Magnetization Transfer Ratio (MTR), saturation imposed by an off-resonance pulse (MTsat) and Macromolecular Tissue Volume (MTV).
methodsThirty-three healthy subjects within two age groups (young, elderly) were scanned at 3T. Among them, 16 underwent the protocol twice to assess repeatability. Statistical reliability indexes such as the Minimal Detectable Change (MDC) were compared across metrics quantified within different cervical levels and white matter (WM) sub-regions. The differences between pathways and age groups were quantified and interpreted in context of the test-retest repeatability of the measurements.
resultsThe MDC was respectively 105.7ms, 2.77%, 0.37% and 4.08% for T1, MTR, MTsat and MTV when quantified over all WM, while the standard-deviation across subjects was 70.5ms, 1.34%, 0.20% and 2.44%. Even though particular WM regions did exhibit significant differences, these differences were on the same order as test-retest errors. No significant difference was found between age groups for all metrics.
conclusionWhile T1-based metrics (T1 and MTV) exhibited better reliability than MT-based measurements (MTR and MTsat), the observed differences between subjects or WM regions were comparable to (and often smaller than) the MDC. This makes it difficult to determine if observed changes are due to variations in myelin content, or simply due to measurement error. Measurement error remains a challenge in spinal cord myelin imaging, but this study provides statistical guidelines to standardize the field and make it possible to conduct large-scale multi-center studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.