Abstract

BACKGROUND:
Assessment of bone tumors needs more than one imaging modality. Zero echo time (ZTE) MRI is                  a high-resolution and rapid sequence. It gives an enhanced bone contrast in MR imaging and may obviate further need for CT and its attendant ionizing radiation
OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate clinical applicability of zero time echo magnetic resonance imaging in the assessmentand evaluation of bone lesions (tumors and tumor like conditions) in comparison with CT.
PATIENTS AND METHODS:
21 patients (7 males and 14 females) were included. ZTE MRI was done for all patients included in              the study. Quality assessment of bone findings was performed between ZTE and CT using a 5 point grading scale. The findings were considered significance with P < 0.05. Agreement was assessed between the raters and Weight Kappa statistics were used. Interpretation of agreement was based on published standards: 0.00–0.20Indicated slight; 0.21–0.40, fair; 0.41–0.60, moderate; 0.61–0.80, substantial; and 0.81–1, perfect agreement.
RESULTS:
In this study, 6 types of bone tumors and tumor-like lesions. The image quality between ZTE and CT imaging showed good agreement between the 2 raters (K = 0.93, K = 0.81) in the bone tumors.                  ZTE-MR XIII and CT had similar displays in assessment of lesion boundary, periosteal reaction, bone sclerosis, bone destructions, calcifications, and soft tissues.
CONCLUSION:
ZTE is radiation-free bone imaging and provides image contrast similar to that CT. ZTE-MR can meet the diagnostic requirements of bone assessment, but also presented better tumor boundary and extra or intraosseous soft tissue components in some cases. ZTE-MR can be used as an alternative to CT.