A rare incidence of metal artifact on MRI.

Abstract

We present a rare example of metal artifacts observed in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A 32-year-old male patient was referred to our radiology department for brain MRI. T1-weighted spin echo, T2-weighted turbo spin echo, diffusion-weighted, and fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images were acquired on a 1.5 Tesla scanner (Magnetom Aera, Siemens Erlangen, Germany). Unusual circular shapes resembling water bubbles were observed at the vertex on the conventional MR images ( Figure 1 ). The patient was contacted if he had anything on his head, such as hair gel, etc. during MR imaging. It was found out that the patient was a metal worker who cuts metals and shapes things out of them and there were residual metal dusts on his scalp despite he had a shower before coming to the hospital.