Appearances of diffuse excessive high signal intensity (DEHSI) on MR imaging following preterm birth

Diffuse damage to the periventricular white matter has recently been suggested to be a cause of the cognitive deficits seen following preterm birth. It is unclear whether this form of injury can be visualised on MR imaging, but one group has described diffuse excessive high signal intensity (DEHSI) as a possible form of diffuse white matter injury. This finding is dependent on window imaging and the subjective assessment of the reviewer, but little data have been published on the degree of subjectivity on its appearance among raters.

To assess the subjectivity of DEHSI on conventional and ultrafast T2-weighted MR imaging following preterm birth.

An observational study of 40 preterm infants who had MR imaging of the brain around term-equivalent age, including conventional fast spin-echo (FSE) and ultrafast single-shot fast spin-echo (SSFSE) T2-weighted sequences in the axial plane. Images were anonymised and scored twice by four observers for the presence of DEHSI. Inter- and intra-observer agreement were calculated.

Sixty-five percent of conventional and 100% of the ultrafast images were of diagnostic quality. DEHSI was noted in between 0% and 69.2% of conventional images and 27.5-90% of the ultrafast images. Inter- and intra-observer agreement ranged from none to moderate.

The visual appearances of DEHSI on conventional FSE and ultrafast SSFSE T2-W images are highly subjective, limiting its clinical application.