• Avneesh Chhabra, Filippo Del Grande, Theodoros Soldatos, Majid Chalian, Allan J Belzberg, Eric H Williams, Farahani S Jalali, Gaurav K Thawait, John Eng, and John A Carrino.
• Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. achhabr6@jhmi.edu
• Skeletal Radiol. 2013 Jun 1; 42 (6): 803-8.

ObjectiveTo assess the diagnostic accuracy and observer performance of 3-Tesla magnetic resonance neurography (MRN) in the evaluation of meralgia paresthetica (MP).Materials And MethodsTwo independent readers were blinded to the clinical diagnosis and evaluated the MRN studies of the pelvis of 11 patients with MP and 28 control participants. In each study, the lateral femoral cutaneous nerves were assessed for signal alteration and/or neuroma formation, indicating lateral femoral cutaneous neuropathy, at various levels along their course. Intra- and inter-observer reliability was evaluated.ResultsBoth readers exhibited substantial intraobserver agreement in detecting signal alterations and neuroma formation of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LFCN). The readers demonstrated moderate interobserver agreement in detecting signal alteration of the LFCN and poor interobserver agreement in diagnosing neuroma formation. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of LFCN neuropathy diagnosis were ≥ 71 % and ≥ 94 % for both readers respectively. The diagnostic test accuracy was ≥ 90 % for both readers.Conclusion3-Tesla MRN provides reliable and accurate diagnostic evaluation of meralgia paresthetica.

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