MR imaging of the cervical spine: techniques for two- and three-dimensional imaging

This review briefly describes two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) MR imaging of the cervical spine and focuses on the current and potential clinical usefulness of 3D sequences in the evaluation of cervical spine abnormalities. The practical advantages of 3D imaging are several, and include an increase in signal-to-noise ratio over 2D imaging, thin contiguous slices, more accurate slice thickness, and optimal computer postprocessing. Different 3D techniques can provide either high- or low-signal-intensity CSF, with excellent suppression of CSF pulsation artifacts.