Kiyofumi Yamada1, Martine Truijman2, William Kerwin1, Jie Sun1, Yan Song3, Mat Daemen2, Eline Kooi2, Chun Yuan1
1Radiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States; 2Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands; 3Radiology, Beijing Hospital, Beijing, China
The purpose of this investigation was to understand the cross-center similarities and differences of two independent carotid vessel wall imaging centers. Ten subjects were recruited from each of two imaging centers for multicontrast MRI and plaque compositional analysis. We found good association across centers suggesting similar results regarding the association of risk factors with outcome can be expected across centers. On the other hand, considerable biases between absolute values of quantitative parameters were observed. Thus, in order for risk factors to be translated into clinical practice with appropriate risk thresholds, the source of bias must be ascertained and eliminated.