Radiological Evaluation Guidelines

Radiological evaluations should be done every 12 months for patients on Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) and every 12-24 months for patients not on ERT.

The following Radiological Guidelines should be followed when having evaluations for Gaucher disease:

• MRI - coronal T1 and T2 weighted images of both femurs hips to knees.
• MRI - volumetric measurements of liver and spleen which should include:
  1. Transverse images without gap between slices
  2. Trace liver and spleen sequential images which are traced and surface area is summated
  3. Multiply surface area of cross-sectional images by thickness of each slice - pathological process which can be identified with a 1 centimeter thick slices while using T-1 & T-2 images
• CT - calculations for liver and spleen may be obtained if MRI unavailable by using an outline of liver and spleen with continuous, transaxial 1 cm thick sections adding the sections to give the total organ volume. Volume can be expressed as cc/kg of body weight with tissue density assumed to be 1 gram per cc.

Radiologist Dictation Guidelines to follow when reading and evaluating films done on Gaucher patients. Dictated reports should include the following:

• Type of exam and views
• Areas examined
• Last date of exam used for comparison (if any)
• Manifestations of GD including marrow infiltration, osteopenia, avascular necrosis, infarction, lyitic lesions, Erlenmeyer Flask Deformity, new fractures and an overall bone assessment.

For a complete version of the Radiological Guidelines for Gaucher disease, as well as terms related to methodology and anatomy, click here