Improved Blood Suppression of Motion-Sensitized Driven Equilibrium in High-Resolution Whole-Brain Vessel Wall Imaging: Comparison of Contrast-Enhanced 3D T1-Weighted FSE with Motion-Sensitized Driven Equilibrium and Delay Alternating with Nutation for Tailored Excitation.

Abstract

High-resolution vessel wall MR imaging is prone to slow-flow artifacts, particularly when gadolinium shortens the T1 relaxation time of blood. This study aimed to determine the optimal preparation pulses for contrast-enhanced high-resolution vessel wall MR imaging. Fifty patients who underwent both motion-sensitized driven equilibrium and delay alternating with nutation for tailored excitation (DANTE) preparation pulses with contrast-enhanced 3D-T1-FSE were retrospectively included. Qualitative analysis was performed using a 4-grade visual scoring system for black-blood performance in the small-sized intracranial vessels, overall image quality, severity of artifacts, and the degree of blood suppression in all cortical veins as well as transverse sinuses. Quantitative analysis of the M1 segment of the MCA was also performed. The qualitative analysis revealed that motion-sensitized driven equilibrium demonstrated a significantly higher black-blood score than DANTE in contrast-enhanced 3D-T1-FSE of the A3 segment (3.90 versus 3.58, P < .001); M3 (3.72 versus 3.26, P = .004); P2 to P3 (3.86 versus 3.64, P = .017); the internal cerebral vein (3.72 versus 2.32, P < .001); and overall cortical veins (3.30 versus 2.74, P < .001); and transverse sinuses (2.82 versus 2.38, P < .001). SNRlumen, contrast-to noise ratiowall-lumen, and SNRwall in the M1 vessel were not significantly different between the 2 preparation pulses (all, P > .05). Motion-sensitized driven equilibrium demonstrated improved blood suppression on contrast-enhanced 3D-T1-FSE in the small intracranial arteries and veins compared with DANTE. Motion-sensitized driven equilibrium is a useful preparation pulse for high-resolution vessel wall MR imaging to decrease venous contamination and suppress slow-flow artifacts when using contrast enhancement.