Benefits of Silent DWI MRI in Success Rate, Image Quality, and the Need for Secondary Sedation During Brain Imaging of Children of 3–36 Months of Age

Abstract

Silent T1W and T2W magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to study myelination in children, but the success rate of silent diffusion-weighted imaging is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the success rate and image quality of silent MRI for the brain of children. This was a retrospective study of 3-36-month children who underwent silent or conventional brain MRI at the People's Hospital of Northern Jiangsu from 01/2015 to 02/2018. The success rates were compared. The acoustic noise of each sequence was measured using a decibel meter. The signal-to-noise ratio and contrast-to-noise ratio of the diffusion-weighted imaging, T2W, and T1W sequences were analyzed. Subjective image quality (lesion delineation, visibility, gray-white differentiation, and overall diagnostic usefulness) was determined. The success rate of silent MRI (n = 443) was higher than that of conventional MRI (n = 391) (97.7% vs. 88.2%, p < 0.001). The acoustic noise of all silent sequences was lower than that of the conventional sequence (all p < 0.05). Silent sequences showed decreased signal-to-noise ratio vs. conventional sequences but increased contrast-to-noise ratio (all p < 0.05). Lesion delineation was not significantly different. Lesion visibility and gray-white differentiation of all silent sequences were higher (all p < 0.05). The overall diagnostic usefulness of the silent group was higher (p < 0.001). Silent MRI can effectively improve the success rate of MRI in children of 3-36 months. Noise is reduced, and the overall diagnostic usefulness is higher than that of conventional MRI. Silent MRI is more suitable for children's brain scan than conventional MRI.