Experience with MR cholangiopancreatography with use of a fast inversion recovery sequence during a single...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the single breath-hold fast inversion recovery sequence (FIR) for depicting the biliary tract. A prospective study was performed in 40 patients with suspected diseases in the biliary tract. MRCP (magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography) including cholecystograms of diagnostic quality was carried out in 35 patients. Impacted common duct stones were able to be distinguished from malignancies because of their characteristic shapes of obstruction in four of five cases. FIR with thick slices can provide a shorter acquisition time and fewer artifacts with better signal to noise ratio and contrast to noise ratio than MIP images obtained by means of gradient echo methods. MRCP with FIR was a useful adjunctive tool for non-invasive evaluation of patients with obstructive jaundice.