• Minako Azuma, Zaw Aung Khant, Masami Yoneyama, Ichiro Ikushima, Hideaki Hamanaka, Kiyotaka Yokogami, Etsuo Chosa, Hideo Takeshima, and Toshinori Hirai.
• Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, 5200 Kihara, Kiyotake, Miyazaki, 889-1692, Japan. minako_azuma@med.miyazaki-u.ac.jp.
• Jpn J Radiol. 2021 May 1; 39 (5): 487-493.

PurposeWe aimed to evaluate the feasibility of 3D broadband inversion-recovery-prepared ultrashort echo-time (3D IRP UTE) imaging for assessing ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament (OPLL).Materials And MethodsThe study consisted of 25 consecutive patients with cervical OPLL [13 women, 12 men; mean age 66.3 (47-84) years] who underwent CT, 3T conventional MR, and 3D IRP UTE imaging studies. Two readers independently assessed the 3D IRP UTE images for the type (mixed, continuous, circumscribed, segmental) and distribution of OPLL. All readers consensually assessed the diagnostic certainty of OPLL on conventional MR and 3D IRP UTE images by using a 3-point scale system. Interobserver and intermodality agreement was assessed by κ statistics. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to evaluate the difference of diagnostic certainty between conventional MR and 3D IRP UTE imaging.ResultsInterobserver and intermodality agreements were good (κ = 0.73) and excellent (κ = 0.81) for the OPLL type, and excellent (κ = 0.85) and good (κ = 0.76) for the assessment of the distribution of OPLL, respectively. The mean level of the diagnostic certainty of OPLL was significantly higher for 3D IRP UTE than conventional MR imaging (p = 0.002).Conclusion3D IRP UTE imaging may be useful for assessing OPLL.

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