Orbital pseudotumors: value of short inversion time inversion-recovery MR imaging

To evaluate magnetic resonance (MR) signal intensities of orbital pseudotumors on short inversion time inversion-recovery (STIR) images and to predict the effect of treatment.

Sequential MR examinations were performed in 17 patients with orbital pseudotumors, before and after treatment. All patients underwent MR imaging with T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo or fast spin-echo sequences, and STIR sequences with two 0.5-T systems. Quantitatively and qualitatively, the differences in signal intensities among three therapeutic response groups (good, mild, and no responses) were analyzed for each pulse sequence.

Quantitatively, both contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio on STIR images corresponded well to the results of response to therapy for all background markers; contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio values in the good response group were the largest, while those in the no response group were the smallest (P < .0001). Qualitatively, the signal intensities of the lesions in the good response group were interpreted as hyperintense to the cerebral cortex in 14 (93%) or 11 (73%) of 15 lesions by two observers, respectively, while in the no response group, both observers assessed 16 (89%) of 18 lesions as hypo- or isointense to the muscle (P < .0001).

STIR images showed a variety of signal intensities in the lesions, and the signal intensities on the STIR images helped predict the response to the therapy in orbital pseudotumors.