Three-Dimensional Breath-Hold MRCP Using SPACE Pulse Sequence at 3 T: Comparison With Conventional Navigator-Triggered Technique.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical feasibility of breath-hold (BH) MRCP with multichannel receiver coils in comparison with conventional navigator-triggered (NT) MRCP at 3 T. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. We prospectively studied 53 consecutive patients who underwent MRCP with BH sampling perfection with application-optimized contrasts using different flip-angle evolutions (SPACE) and NT SPACE. The acquisition time for each MRCP image was noted. The contrast ratio, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between the common bile duct (CBD) and periductal tissues on 3D MRCP images were evaluated quantitatively. The overall image quality, motion artifacts, and CBD visibility were scored on a 4-point scale by two blinded radiologists. A paired t test was used to analyze the differences in the qualitative and quantitative evaluations between the two MRCP acquisition methods. RESULTS. Both MRCP methods were successfully performed for all subjects without any complications. The mean acquisition time of BH MRCP was significantly shorter than that of NT MRCP (18 seconds vs 264.64 ± 89.66 [SD] seconds; p < 0.001). The mean SNR, the contrast ratio, and the CNR of the CBD were significantly higher on NT MRCP images than on BH MRCP images (11.58 ± 6.24 vs 8.71 ± 4.21, 0.93 ± 0.04 vs 0.92 ± 0.03, and 15.42 ± 8.04 vs 12.00 ± 5.76, respectively; p < 0.05). All visual scores were significantly higher with BH MRCP than with conventional NT MRCP (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION. Using 3D BH MRCP with a SPACE sequence at 3 T is feasible in clinical patients, yielding significantly better perceived image quality of the pancreaticobiliary tree in a single BH (mean acquisition time, 18 seconds) without losing image quality compared with the conventional NT MRCP.