Abstract:
Objective To investigate the clinical value of third-generation dual-source dual-energy CT virtual decalcification bone marrow imaging in evaluating vertebral osteogenic bone metastases.
Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 48 patients with malignant tumor 27 males and 21 females, aged (62.4±10.5) years hospitalized in the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from November 2017 to September 2018. All patients underwent dual-source dual-energy CT imaging and 99Tcm-methylenediphosphonate (MDP) whole-body bone imaging simultaneously. On the basis of clinical follow-up or pathological diagnosis, the diagnostic value of three methods of whole-body bone imaging, conventional CT, and bone marrow imaging in vertebral osteogenic bone metastases were compared and studied. Bone marrow density (CT value) was measured through bone marrow imaging. First, the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy of the three methods for diagnosis of vertebral osteogenic bone metastases were compared through χ2 test. Second, the bone marrow CT value of vertebral metastases was compared with that of the normal vertebral body through t-test. Third, the subjective score and bone marrow CT value were analyzed through receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.
Results A total of 48 patients with 598 vertebral bodies were examined in this study, where in 135 vertebral bodies were diagnosed with osteogenic bone metastases. 99Tcm-MDP whole-body bone imaging was diagnosed in 127 cases, conventional CT was diagnosed in 119 cases, and bone marrow imaging was diagnosed in 129 cases. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy rate of bone marrow imaging diagnosis were 95.56%, 94.82%, 84.31%, 98.65%, and 94.98%, respectively. The negative predictive values (98.17%, 96.60%, and 98.65%) and accuracy (92.81%, 95.82%, and 94.98%) of the three methods had no statistical significance (χ2=4.891, 5.591; P=0.087, 0.061). Sensitivity (94.07% vs. 95.56%), specificity (92.44% vs. 94.81%), and positive predictive value (78.40% vs. 84.31%) of whole-body bone and bone marrow imaging were not statistically different (χ2= 0.301, 2.190, 1.811; P =0.583, 0.139, 0.178). The bone marrow density of the metastatic focus of the diseased vertebral body was lower than that of the normal vertebral body (−588.96±332.37) HU vs. (−55.03±75.62) HU (t=31.906, P=0.000). The AUC of bone marrow density was 0.99 with a cut-off value of −119.6 HU (sensitivity and specificity were 97.80% and 96.50%, respectively).
Conclusion The third-generation dual-source dual-energy CT virtual decalcified bone marrow imaging can be used for detecting osteogenic bone metastases of vertebral bodies.