MR imaging of the lungs: value of short TE spin-echo pulse sequences

An experimental short echo delay (TE = 7 msec) T1-weighted spin-echo sequence was compared with a conventional (TE = 20 msec) T1-weighted spin-echo sequence in the assessment of normal and abnormal lung parenchyma. Comparison was also made with high-resolution CT of abnormal lung parenchyma.

At 1.5 T, an experimental short echo delay T1-weighted multislice spin-echo sequence (TR = RR interval, TE = 7 msec) was compared with an optimal conventional T1-weighted spin-echo sequence (TR = RR interval, TE = 20 msec, spatial presaturation). Ten healthy volunteers were examined with both sequences. The mean signal intensity and signal-to-noise ratios were calculated in lung parenchyma for both sequences. Two radiologists compared the visualization of normal lung parenchymal structures with the two techniques. In 24 patients with diffuse lung disease, results with both MR sequences and with high-resolution CT were compared.

The signal intensity was significantly greater (p < .001) with the TE of 7 msec than with the TE of 20 msec, resulting in a 3.5-fold improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio. The 7-msec TE improved visualization of lung parenchymal structures, including peripheral vessels, interlobular septa or veins, and centrilobular arteries. In the patients with diffuse lung disease, pulmonary parenchymal abnormalities were better visualized on the images with TEs of 7 msec than on images with TEs of 20 msec. When compared with high-resolution CT, the sequence with a TE of 7 msec provided comparable assessment of air-space opacification and dense consolidation, but it was inferior to high-resolution CT in the anatomic assessment of lung parenchyma.

This experimental spin-echo sequence with a TE of 7 msec significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratio, allowing improved visualization of normal and abnormal pulmonary parenchyma when compared with conventional spin-echo images with a TE of 20 msec. Although anatomic detail remains inferior to that seen with high-resolution CT, the improved image quality with a TE of 7 msec suggests that assessment and follow-up of parenchymal lung disease might be possible with MR, thereby avoiding ionizing radiation.