Brain hemorrhage: evaluation with fast spin-echo and conventional dual spin-echo images

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Neuroimaging
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background:

• Central nervous system (CNS) hemorrhage evaluation relies on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• Spin-echo (SE) and fast spin-echo (FSE) are common MRI sequences with differing T2-weighting properties.
• Understanding signal intensity differences in hemorrhagic lesions is crucial for accurate diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare signal intensity and contrast of blood products in CNS hemorrhage using SE and FSE sequences.
• To assess the impact of magnetic susceptibility effects on image signal intensity.
• To determine if FSE offers advantages over SE for visualizing hemorrhagic lesions.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated signal intensity in 15 patients with CNS hemorrhage.
• Measured signal intensity in regions of interest including hemorrhage, iron-containing nuclei, white matter, scalp fat, and noise.
• Compared measurements between SE and FSE sequences along the phase-encoding direction.

Main Results:

• Hemosiderin, deoxyhemoglobin, and iron-containing nuclei showed slightly higher signal intensity on FSE, but not significantly.
• Methemoglobin signal intensity was similar between SE and FSE.
• Scalp fat signal intensity was higher on FSE images.
• Signal-to-noise ratios were lower with FSE compared to SE imaging.
• Contrast and lesion conspicuity were comparable between the two sequences.

Conclusions:

• Paramagnetic blood products may exhibit marginally higher signal intensity on FSE images.
• SE and FSE sequences provide comparable contrast and lesion conspicuity for CNS hemorrhage.
• FSE imaging does not significantly alter the appearance of hemorrhagic lesions compared to SE imaging.