More articles from ADULT BRAIN

DSC-MR imaging using preload, intermediate (60°) flip angle and postprocessing leakage correction has gained traction as a standard methodology. Simulations suggest that DSC-MR imaging with flip angle = 30° and no preload yields relative CBV practically equivalent to the reference standard. Eighty-four patients with brain lesions were enrolled in this 3-institution study. Forty-three patients satisfied the inclusion criteria. DSC-MR imaging (3T, single-dose gadobutrol, gradient recalled-echo–EPI, TE=20–35 ms, TR=1.2–1.63 seconds) was performed twice for each patient, with flip angle = 30°–35° and no preload (P-) or provided preload (P+) for an intermediate flipangle = 60°. Compared with 60°/P+/C+, 30°/P-/C+ had closest mean standardized relative CBV, highest Lin concordance correlation coefficient, and lowest Bland-Altman bias.

The authors analyzed the accuracy of gadolinium SWI for detecting the imaging evidence of active inflammation on MS plaques when a BBB dysfunction was demonstrated by a focal gadolinium-enhanced lesion and compared this technique with gadolinium-enhanced T1 spin-echo and T1 spin-echo with magnetization transfer contrast sequences. Differences in BBB dysfunction were evident in the 103 patients among gadolinium SWI, gadolinium T1 spin-echo, and gadolinium T1 magnetization transfer contrast. Gadolinium T1 magnetization transfer contrast demonstrated the highest number of active demyelinating plaques. Gadolinium SWI was highly correlated with gadolinium T1 magnetization transfer contrast in depicting acute demyelinating plaques and these techniques provided better performance compared with gadolinium T1 spin-echo.