Gordon Stefan, Bridges Janis P, Tomlin Susan C, Hartman Angela, Worth Andrew J
Massey University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
NZEVET, Nelson, New Zealand.
Vet Comp Orthop Traumatol. 2018 Sep;31(5):339-343. doi: 10.1055/s-0038-1660873. Epub 2018 Aug 23.
This article determines the repeatability of a recently reported method of volumetric measurement of the lateral intervertebral neurovascular foramina at the lumbosacral junction in German shepherd dogs.
Batch files including the intervertebral neurovascular foramina were derived from previously obtained computed tomography studies of the extended lumbosacral junction of 20 German shepherd dogs and converted into volume datasets. Three observers independently performed five measurements of the left and right lumbosacral intervertebral neurovascular foramina in each dog, using an Extended Brilliance Workstation (Phillips, The Netherlands) to generate a volume of the lumbosacral intervertebral foramina in cubic millimetres, as described by Worth and colleagues in 2017. The inter-observer repeatability of the mean of the five-volume measurements (40 foramina) was assessed using the Bland-Altman limits of agreement method. One observer, blinded to the previous measurements, repeated the volumetric analysis on 20 lumbosacral intervertebral foramina for an assessment of intra-observer repeatability using the same statistical methods.
This method of volumetric analysis showed good intra- and inter-observer repeatability with 95% of paired comparisons falling within two standard deviations of the mean difference between them.
This method of measuring the volume of the lumbosacral intervertebral neurovascular foramina is repeatedly reliable and may be a useful tool when testing the effects of motion and disease on the lumbosacral junction, and could help guide surgical intervention when foraminal narrowing is implicated in the clinical signs.
本文确定了一种最近报道的测量德国牧羊犬腰骶交界处椎间神经血管孔容积方法的可重复性。
包含椎间神经血管孔的批处理文件来自先前对20只德国牧羊犬腰骶交界处进行的计算机断层扫描研究，并转换为容积数据集。三名观察者独立对每只狗的左右腰骶椎间神经血管孔进行五次测量，使用扩展型Brilliance工作站（飞利浦，荷兰）生成以立方毫米为单位 的腰骶椎间孔容积，如沃思及其同事在2017年所描述的那样。使用Bland-Altman一致性界限法评估五次容积测量平均值（40个孔）的观察者间可重复性。一名对先前测量结果不知情的观察者，对20个腰骶椎间孔重复进行容积分析，使用相同的统计方法评估观察者内可重复性。
这种容积分析方法显示出良好的观察者内和观察者间可重复性，95%的配对比较结果落在它们平均差异的两个标准差范围内。
这种测量腰骶椎间神经血管孔容积的方法具有可靠的重复性，在测试运动和疾病对腰骶交界处的影响时可能是一种有用的工具，并且在临床症状与椎间孔狭窄有关时可以帮助指导手术干预。
