Three-dimensional ultrashort echo time magnetic resonance imaging in assessment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, in comparison with high-resolution computed tomography.

Background: We aimed to evaluate the image quality, feasibility, and diagnostic performance of three-dimensional ultrashort echo time magnetic resonance imaging (3D UTE-MRI) to assess idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) compared with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and half-Fourier single-shot turbo spin-echo (HASTE) MRI. Methods: A total of 36 patients with IPF (34 men; mean age: 62±8 years, age range: 43 to 78 years) were prospectively included and underwent HRCT and chest MRI on the same day. Chest MRI was performed with a free-breathing 3D spiral UTE pulse sequence and HASTE sequence on a 1.5 T MRI. Two radiologists independently evaluated the image quality of the HRCT, HASTE, and 3D UTE-MRI. They assessed the representative imaging features of IPF, including honeycombing, reticulation, traction bronchiectasis, and ground-glass opacities. Image quality of the 3D UTE-MRI, HASTE, and HRCT were assessed using a 5-point visual scoring method. Kappa and weighted kappa analysis were used to measure intra- and inter-observer and inter-method agreements. Sensitivity (SE), specificity (SP), and accuracy (AC) were used to assess the performance of 3D UTE-MRI for detecting image features of IPF and monitoring the extent of pulmonary fibrosis. Linear regressions and Bland-Altman plots were generated to assess the correlation and agreement between the assessment of the extent of pulmonary fibrosis made by the 2 observers. Results: The image quality of HRCT was higher than that of HASTE and UTE-MRI (HRCT Conclusions: As a radiation-free non-contrast enhanced imaging method, although the image quality of 3D UTE-MRI is inferior to that of HRCT, it has high reproducibility to identify the imaging features of IPF and evaluate the extent of pulmonary fibrosis.