RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Reduced Field-of-View Diffusion Imaging of the Human Spinal Cord: Comparison with Conventional Single-Shot Echo-Planar Imaging
JF American Journal of Neuroradiology
JO Am. J. Neuroradiol.
FD American Society of Neuroradiology
DO 10.3174/ajnr.A2418
A1 G. Zaharchuk
A1 E.U. Saritas
A1 J.B. Andre
A1 C.T. Chin
A1 J. Rosenberg
A1 T.J. Brosnan
A1 A. Shankaranarayan
A1 D.G. Nishimura
A1 N.J. Fischbein
YR 2011
UL http://www.ajnr.org/content/early/2011/03/31/ajnr.A2418.abstract
AB BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: DWI of the spinal cord is challenging because of its small size and artifacts associated with the most commonly used clinical imaging method, SS-EPI. We evaluated the performance of rFOV spinal cord DWI and compared it with the routine fFOV SS-EPI in a clinical population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six clinical patients underwent 1.5T MR imaging examination that included rFOV SS-EPI DWI of the cervical spinal cord as well as 2 comparison diffusion sequences: fFOV SS-EPI DWI normalized for either image readout time (low-resolution fFOV) or spatial resolution (high-resolution fFOV). ADC maps were created and compared between the methods by using single-factor analysis of variance. Two neuroradiologists blinded to sequence type rated the 3 DWI methods, based on susceptibility artifacts, perceived spatial resolution, signal intensity–to-noise ratio, anatomic detail, and clinical utility. RESULTS: ADC values for the rFOV and both fFOV sequences were not statistically different (rFOV: 1.01 ± 0.18 × 10-3 mm2/s; low-resolution fFOV: 1.12 ± 0.22 × 10-3 mm2/s; high-resolution fFOV: 1.10 ± 0.21 × 10-3 mm2/s; F = 2.747, P > .05). The neuroradiologist reviewers rated the rFOV diffusion images superior in terms of all assessed measures (P < 0.0001). Particular improvements were noted in patients with metal hardware, degenerative disease, or both. CONCLUSIONS: rFOV DWI of the spinal cord overcomes many of the problems associated with conventional fFOV SS-EPI and is feasible in a clinical population. From a clinical standpoint, images were deemed superior to those created by using standard fFOV methods.