Texture analysis using T1-weighted images for muscles in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease patients and volunteers

Objectives To explore whether texture features using T1-weighted images correlate with fat fraction, and whether they differ between Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease patients and volunteers. Methods The institutional review board approved this retrospective study, and the requirement for informed consent was waived; data of eighteen CMT patients and eighteen healthy volunteers from a previous study was used. Texture features of the muscles including mean, standard deviation (SD), skewness, kurtosis, and entropy of the signal intensity were derived from T1-weighted images. Spearman's correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between texture features and fat fraction measured by 3D multiple gradient echo Dixon-based sequence. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the texture features between CMT patients and volunteers. Intraobserver and interobserver agreements for the texture features were assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Results The SD (rho = 0.256, p < 0.001) and entropy (rho = 0.263, p < 0.001) were significantly and positively correlated with fat fraction; skewness (rho = - 0.110, p = 0.027) and kurtosis (rho = - 0.149, p = 0.003) were significantly and inversely correlated with fat fraction. The CMT patients showed a significantly higher SD (63.45 vs. 49.26; p < 0.001), skewness (1.06 vs. 0.56; p < 0.001), kurtosis (4.00 vs. 1.81; p < 0.001), and entropy (3.20 vs. 3.02; p < 0.001) than did the volunteers. Intraobserver and interobserver agreements were almost perfect for mean, SD, and entropy. Conclusions Texture features using T1-weighted images correlated with fat fraction and differed between CMT patients and volunteers.

Automated summary

Texture features using T1-weighted images are correlated with fat fraction and differ significantly between Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease patients and volunteers. Standard deviation and entropy are positively correlated with fat fraction, while skewness and kurtosis are inversely correlated. CMT patients exhibit higher texture feature values compared to volunteers, and there is good intraobserver agreement.