MRI in multiple sclerosis of the spinal cord: evaluation of fast short-tan inversion-recovery and spin-echo sequences

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Neurology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease affecting the central nervous system.
• Accurate detection of spinal cord lesions is crucial for MS diagnosis and management.
• Conventional MRI sequences may have limitations in visualizing subtle spinal cord lesions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the sensitivity of T2-weighted fast spin-echo (FSE) and fast short-tau inversion-recovery (fSTIR) MRI sequences.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of these sequences in detecting spinal cord lesions in patients with clinically confirmed MS.
• To determine the utility of fSTIR in cases where brain MRI findings are inconclusive.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 100 consecutive patients with clinically confirmed MS.
• T2-weighted FSE and fSTIR MRI sequences were utilized for spinal cord imaging.
• Brain MRI was performed in 86 of the patients.
• Lesion detection and contrast enhancement were analyzed.

Main Results:

• A total of 310 focal lesions were detected using fSTIR, compared to 212 lesions using T2-weighted FSE.
• Spinal cord lesions were visualized with better contrast and clarity on fSTIR images.
• In 24 patients with spinal plaques, brain MRI results were normal or inconclusive, highlighting the importance of spinal imaging.

Conclusions:

• fSTIR sequences demonstrate higher sensitivity and improved contrast for detecting spinal cord lesions in MS.
• fSTIR is a valuable tool for MS diagnosis, particularly when brain MRI findings are equivocal or normal.
• Enhanced visualization of spinal cord lesions with fSTIR can aid in definitive MS diagnosis and patient management.