Table 2:

Results of the visual evaluation on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 5 (nondiagnostic): means and standard deviations

	Reader 1		Reader 2		Mean (reader 1, reader 2)
	TSE	BLADE	TSE	BLADE	TSE	BLADE
Image sharpness	2.20 ± 1.04	1.62 ± 0.76^***	2.45 ± 1.11	1.50 ± 0.73^***	2.32 ± 1.02	1.56 ± 0.68^***
Artifacts
Motion	2.23 ± 1.24	1.55 ± 0.91^***	2.30 ± 1.18	1.55 ± 0.87^***	2.27 ± 1.17	1.55 ± 0.83^***
Truncation	2.77 ± 0.99	2.42 ± 0.72^*	2.53 ± 0.65	2.12 ± 0.49^***	2.65 ± 0.73	2.27 ± 0.52^***
Metal	3.78 ± 0.44	3.89 ± 0.33^ns	4.00 ± 0.00	3.44 ± 0.53^ns	3.89 ± 0.22	3.67 ± 0.35^ns
Flow phenomena	2.93 ± 0.82	1.98 ± 0.77^***	3.00 ± 0.92	2.18 ± 0.62^***	2.97 ± 0.79	2.08 ± 0.62^***
Contrast
Vertebral body/disk	2.38 ± 0.96	2.12 ± 0.80^*	1.93 ± 1.02	1.18 ± 0.47^***	2.16 ± 0.86	1.65 ± 0.54^***
Spinal cord/CSF	2.42 ± 0.98	1.97 ± 0.80^**	2.62 ± 1.08	1.62 ± 0.78^***	2.52 ± 0.93	1.79 ± 0.69^***
Diagnostic reliability
Spinal cord	3.03 ± 1.26	2.70 ± 0.89^**	2.93 ± 1.19	2.38 ± 0.78^***	2.98 ± 1.16	2.54 ± 0.77^***

Note:—Wilcoxon rank sum test; ns indicates no significant difference between TSE and BLADE (P ≥ .05);
* P < .05;
** P < .01;
*** P< .001.