Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of a Spiral Gradient Echo Sequence for Contrast-Enhanced Fat-Suppressed T1-Weighted Spine Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Objectives

Pulse sequences with non-Cartesian k-space sampling enable improved imaging in anatomical areas with high degrees of motion artifacts. We analyzed a novel spiral 3-dimensional (3D) gradient echo (GRE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence (“spiral,” 114.7 ± 11 seconds) and compared it with a radial 3D GRE (“vane,” 216.7 ± 2 seconds) and a conventional Cartesian 2D turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence (“TSE,” 266.7 ± 82 seconds) for contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted spine imaging.

Materials and Methods

Forty consecutive patients referred for contrast-enhanced MRI were prospectively scanned with all 3 sequences. A qualitative analysis was performed by 3 readers using 4- or 5-point Likert scales to independently grade images in terms of overall image quality, occurrence of artifacts, lesion conspicuity, and conspicuity of nerve roots. The numbers of visible nerve roots per sequence and patient were counted in consensus. Coefficient of variation measurements were performed for the paravertebral musculature (CVPM) and the spinal cord (CVSC).

Results

Spiral (median [interquartile range], 5 [4–5]) exhibited improved overall image quality in comparison to TSE (3 [3–4]) and vane (4 [4–5]; both P

Source: Investigative Radiology - July 15, 2021 Category: Radiology Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research