Comparison of T2-weighted spin-echo and fast spin-echo techniques in the evaluation of myelination

To evaluate T2-weighed fast spin-echo (FSE) and conventional spin-echo (CSE) magnetic resonance (MR) techniques in the assessment of brain myelination, 100 consecutive pediatric patients were imaged prospectively with both CSE and FSE sequences. All patients underwent a routine MR examination that included T2-weighted CSE imaging (imaging time, 10 minutes 21 seconds) and T2-weighted FSE imaging (imaging time, 2 minutes 5 seconds). The two techniques were compared for estimating the degree of myelination (using normal anatomic landmarks) by blind review. With T2-weighted CSE images as the "gold standard" for estimation of normal myelination, FSE images were evaluated to determine if they showed the degree of myelination similarly to CSE images. There was a strong correlation (P < .01) between CSE and FSE images in the estimation of myelination over a wide range of patient ages.