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Whole-brain black-blood imaging with magnetization-transfer prepared spin echo-like contrast: a novel sequence for contrast-enhanced brain metastasis screening at 3T

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Abstract

In contrast-enhanced (CE) brain metastasis screening, coexistence of enhanced blood vessel suppression and higher tumor-to-parenchyma contrast may improve radiologists’ performances in detecting brain metastases compared with conventional sequences. In this study, we propose a new scheme, allowing both suppression of blood signals and improvement of tumor-to-parenchyma contrast, using motion-sensitized driven equilibrium prepared 3D low-refocusing flip-angle turbo spin echo (TSE) (“magnetization transfer prepared spin echo”-like contrast volume examination: MATLVE) for brain metastasis screening at 3.0 T, and we compare MATLVE to conventional three-dimensional (3D)-gradient recalled echo (GRE) and 3D-TSE sequences. With the use of MATLVE, the signal intensity of CE blood decreased substantially. Furthermore, the contrast ratio of tumor-to-white matter was significantly higher than in either conventional 3D-GRE or 3D-TSE. MATLVE can be used for 3D volumetric post-CE black-blood imaging, and it may be effective in detecting small brain metastases by selectively enhancing tumor signals while suppressing blood signals.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yaesu Clinic, C-road Bldg 4F, 2-1-18 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Masami Yoneyama, Masanobu Nakamura, Takashi Tabuchi, Satoshi Tatsuno & Seishi Sawano

  2. Philips Electronics Japan, Tokyo, Japan

    Atsushi Takemura & Makoto Obara

Authors
  1. Masami Yoneyama
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  2. Masanobu Nakamura
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  3. Takashi Tabuchi
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  4. Atsushi Takemura
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  5. Makoto Obara
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  6. Satoshi Tatsuno
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  7. Seishi Sawano
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Masami Yoneyama.

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Yoneyama, M., Nakamura, M., Tabuchi, T. et al. Whole-brain black-blood imaging with magnetization-transfer prepared spin echo-like contrast: a novel sequence for contrast-enhanced brain metastasis screening at 3T. Radiol Phys Technol 6, 431–436 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-013-0216-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12194-013-0216-3

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