Is 3T MR nerve-bone fusion imaging a viable alternative to MRI-CBCT to identify the relationship between the inferior alveolar nerve and mandibular third molar

• Published in: Clinical oral investigations Vol. 28; no. 5; p. 256
• Main Authors: Huang, Hao, Yan, Yalan, Jiang, Dongmei, Zhao, Xiance, Cao, Dairong, She, Dejun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 17.04.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bone imaging; Dental roots; Dentistry; Health risks; Humans; Inflammation; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Mandibular canal; Mandibular Nerve - diagnostic imaging; Medicine; Molar - diagnostic imaging; Molar, Third - diagnostic imaging; Reproducibility of Results; Root canals; Spiral Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; Surgical techniques; Fusion imaging; MRI; Inferior alveolar nerve; CBCT; Mandibular third molar
• ISSN: 1436-3771; 1432-6981; 1436-3771
• DOI: 10.1007/s00784-024-05649-8

Objectives To investigate the feasibility of MRI nerve-bone fusion imaging in assessing the relationship between inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) / mandibular canal (MC) and mandibular third molar (MTM) compared with MRI-CBCT fusion. Materials and methods The MRI nerve-bone fusion and MRI-CBCT fusion imaging were performed in 20 subjects with 37 MTMs. The Hausdorff distance (HD) value and dice similarity coefficient (DSC) was calculated. The relationship between IAN/MC and MTM roots, inflammatory, and fusion patterns were compared between these two fused images. The reliability was assessed using a weighted κ statistic. Results The mean HD and DSC ranged from 0.62 ~ 1.35 and 0.83 ~ 0.88 for MRI nerve-bone fusion, 0.98 ~ 1.50 and 0.76 ~ 0.83 for MRI-CBCT fusion. MR nerve-bone fusion had considerable reproducibility compared to MRI-CBCT fusion in relation classification (MR nerve-bone fusion κ = 0.694, MRI-CBCT fusion κ = 0.644), direct contact (MR nerve-bone fusion κ = 0.729, MRI-CBCT fusion κ = 0.720), and moderate to good agreement for inflammation detection (MR nerve-bone fusion κ = 0.603, MRI-CBCT fusion κ = 0.532, average). The MR nerve-bone fusion imaging showed a lower ratio of larger pattern compared to MR-CBCT fusion (16.2% VS 27.3% in the molar region, and 2.7% VS 5.4% in the retromolar region). And the average time spent on MR nerve-bone fusion and MRI-CBCT fusion was 1 min and 3 min, respectively. Conclusions Both MR nerve-bone fusion and MRI-CBCT fusion exhibited good consistency in evaluating the spatial relationship between IAN/MC and MTM, fusion effect, and inflammation detection. Clinical relevance MR nerve-bone fusion imaging can be a preoperative one-stop radiation-free examination for patients at high risk for MTM surgery.