Related Experiment Videos
Lesion discrimination in optic neuritis using high-resolution fat-suppressed fast spin-echo MRI
A Gass1, I F Moseley, G J Barker
1NMR Research Group, Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
Abstract:
Fast spin-echo (FSE) is a new sequence with acquisition times currently down to one-sixteenth of those obtained with conventional spin-echo sequences, which allows high-resolution (512 x 512 matrix) images to be acquired in an acceptable time. We compared the higher resolution of FSE with the medium resolution of a short inversion-time inversion-recovery (STIR) sequence in depicting the optic nerves of healthy controls and patients with optic neuritis. Optic nerve MRI examinations were performed in 18 patients with optic neuritis and 10 normal controls. Two sequences were obtained coronally: fat-suppressed FSE (FSE TR 3250 ms/TEef 68 ms, echo-train length 16, 4 excitations, 24 cm rectangular field of view, 3 mm interleaved contiguous slices, in-plane resolution 0.5 x 0.5 mm) and STIR (TR 2000 ms/TE 50 ms/TI 175 ms, in-plane resolution 0.8 x 0.8 mm, slice thickness 5 mm). FSE demonstrated much more anatomical detail than STIR, e.g. distinction of optic nerve and sheath. Lesions were seen in 20 of 21 symptomatic nerves using FSE and in 18 of 21 using STIR. Nerve swelling or partial cross-sectional lesions of the optic nerve were each seen only on FSE in 3 cases. Fat-suppressed FSE imaging of the optic nerve improves anatomical definition and increases lesion detection in optic neuritis.
Insights
Fast spin-echo (FSE) magnetic resonance imaging offers superior anatomical detail for optic nerves compared to STIR sequences. This advanced FSE technique enhances lesion detection in patients with optic neuritis.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Conventional spin-echo sequences have limitations in acquisition time and resolution for detailed optic nerve imaging.
- Optic neuritis diagnosis relies on accurate visualization of optic nerve abnormalities.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the efficacy of high-resolution fat-suppressed fast spin-echo (FSE) with short inversion-time inversion-recovery (STIR) for depicting optic nerves.
- To evaluate the diagnostic performance of FSE in detecting lesions associated with optic neuritis.
Main Methods:
- Optic nerve MRI was performed on 18 patients with optic neuritis and 10 controls using coronal fat-suppressed FSE and STIR sequences.
- Image analysis focused on anatomical detail and lesion detection capabilities of each sequence.
- Key parameters included matrix size, in-plane resolution, and slice thickness.
Main Results:
- FSE provided significantly greater anatomical detail, distinguishing the optic nerve and its sheath, compared to STIR.
- Lesions were detected in 20 of 21 symptomatic nerves with FSE versus 18 of 21 with STIR.
- Subtle findings like nerve swelling and partial cross-sectional lesions were exclusively visualized with FSE in three cases.
Conclusions:
- Fat-suppressed FSE imaging significantly improves anatomical definition of the optic nerve.
- FSE enhances the detection of optic nerve lesions in patients with optic neuritis, offering diagnostic advantages over STIR.