Purpose

To investigate the ability of three-dimensional double-echo steady-state with water excitation sequence (3D-DESS-WE) in detecting the greater occipital nerve (GON) and the lesser occipital nerve (LON).

Materials and methods

We retrospectively reviewed 66 consecutive patients who underwent magnetic resonance imaging, including 3D-DESS-WE. Two readers evaluated the detectability [0 (poor) to 3 (excellent)] and thickness of the GON and LON. We calculated the average evaluation scores and interobserver variability for the detectability of the GON and LON. We also calculated the average nerve thickness for each of the two readers and the interobserver reproducibility for the thickness of the GON and LON. The interobserver variability was calculated using a weighted kappa analysis and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate the interobserver reproducibility of the nerve thickness.

Results

The respective average score, interobserver variability, thickness and interobserver reproducibility were 3.00, excellent (κ = 1.00), 1.07 ± 0.12 mm, and almost perfect (ICC = 0.82) for the GON and 1.81, good (κ = 0.73), 0.84 ± 0.11 mm, and substantial (ICC = 0.78) for the LON. The GON was significantly thicker than the LON (p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The 3D-DESS-WE demonstrated excellent visualization of the GON and relatively good visualization of the LON.

中文翻译：

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具有水激发序列的三维双回波稳态上的大枕神经和小枕神经的可视化。

目的

研究三维双回波稳态水激发序列（3D-DESS-WE）检测枕大神经（GON）和枕小神经（LON）的能力。

材料和方法

我们回顾性地回顾了 66 名接受磁共振成像的连续患者，包括 3D-DESS-WE。两名阅读器评估了 GON 和 LON 的可检测性 [0（差）到 3（极好）] 和厚度。我们计算了 GON 和 LON 可检测性的平均评估分数和观察者间变异性。我们还计算了两个读取器中每个读取器的平均神经厚度以及 GON 和 LON 厚度的观察者间可重复性。使用加权 kappa 分析计算观察者间变异性，并使用组内相关系数 (ICC) 评估神经厚度的观察者间可重复性。

结果

 GON的各自平均得分、观察者间变异性、厚度和观察者间可重复性分别为 3.00，优秀 ( κ = 1.00)，1.07 ± 0.12 毫米，几乎完美 (ICC = 0.82) 和 1.81，良好 ( κ  = 0.73)，0.84 ± 0.11 毫米，并且 LON 相当大（ICC = 0.78）。GON 明显比 LON 厚（p  < 0.001）。

结论

3D-DESS-WE 展示了 GON 的出色可视化和 LON 的相对较好的可视化。