Short Tau Inversion Recovery Fat Research Articles

Diagnostic performance of diffusion-weighted MR neurography as an adjunct to conventional MRI for the assessment of brachial plexus pathology.

To investigate the diagnostic performance of diffusion-weighted (DW) MR neurography as an adjunct to conventional MRI for the assessment of brachial plexus pathology. DW MR neurography scans (short tau inversion recovery fat suppression and b-value of 800s/mm2) of 15 consecutive patients with and 45 randomly selected patients without brachial plexus abnormalities were independently and blindly reviewed by a 5th year radiology resident, a junior neuroradiologist, and a senior neuroradiologist. Median interpretation times ranged between 20 and 30s. Interobserver agreement was substantial (κ coefficients of 0.715-0.739). For the 5th year radiology resident, sensitivity was 53.3% (95% CI, 30.1-75.2%) and specificity was 100% (95% CI, 92.1-100%). For the junior neuroradiologist, sensitivity was 66.7% (95% CI, 41.7-84.8%) and specificity was 100% (95% CI, 92.1-100%). For the senior neuroradiologist, sensitivity was 73.3% (95% CI, 48.1-89.1%) and specificity was 95.6% (95% CI, 85.2-98.8%). Traumatic injury, metastases, radiation-induced plexopathy, schwannoma, and inflammatory process of unknown cause could be detected by the majority of readers (100% detection rate for each disease entity by at least two readers). Neuralgic amyotrophy, iatrogenic injury after first rib resection, and cervical disc herniation causing root compression were not detected by the majority of readers (0% detection rate for each disease entity by at least two readers). DW MR neurography may be a useful adjunct when assessing for brachial plexus abnormalities, because interpretation time is relatively short and the majority of abnormalities can be detected. • DW MR neurography interpretation time of the brachial plexus is relatively short (median interpretation times of 20 to 30s). • Interobserver agreement between three readers with different levels of experience is substantial (κ coefficients of 0.715 to 0.739). • DW MR neurography can detect brachial plexus abnormalities with moderate sensitivity (53.3 to 73.3%) and high specificity (95.6 to 100%).

Simultaneous multislice diffusion-weighted imaging with short tau inversion recovery fat suppression in bone-metastasizing breast cancer

PurposeTo compare image quality and ADC values of simultaneous multislice diffusion-weighted imaging (mb-DWI) with that of conventional DWI (c-DWI) using short tau inversion recovery fat saturation (STIR) in women with bone-metastasizing breast cancer. Methodc-DWI and mb-DWI were acquired at 1.5 T in 23 breast cancer patients from skull base to mid thighs. mb-DWI was compared to c-DWI in terms of subjective image quality, artefacts and bone metastasis lesion conspicuity assessed on a 5-point Likert scale. ADC values of different organs as well as bone metastasis ADC values were compared between c-DWI and mb-DWI. Resultsmb-DWI reduced scan time by 48 % compared with c-DWI (1 min 58 s vs. 3 min 45 s per station). mb-DWI provided similar subjective image quality (3.8 vs. 3.7, p = 0.70), number of artefacts (50 vs. 56), severity of these (4.6 vs. 4.7, p = 0.11), and lesion conspicuity (4.2 vs. 4.4, p = 0.31) compared to c-DWI. mb-DWI showed lower mean ADC values in liver (0.5 × 10−3 mm2/s vs. 0.7 × 10−3 mm2/s, p = 0.002) and erector spine muscle (1.3 × 10−3 mm2/s vs. 1.5 × 10−3 mm2/s, p < 0.001). Bone metastasis ADC values from mb-DWI were 6.4 % lower than c-DWI (95 % confidence interval: 5.4%–7.4%, p < 0.001). Conclusionsmb-DWI provides similar subjective image quality to c-DWI with the same level of artefacts. Although bone metastasis ADC values were lower, mb-DWI can substantially reduce scan times of whole-body DWI in women with bone-metastasizing breast cancer.

Short-Tau-Inversion-Recovery-Fettsignalunterdrückung bei der T2-gewichteten Turbo-Spin-Echo-MRT von Malignomen in Mundhöhle und Oropharynx

T1-weighted sequences before and after the application of contrast medium and T2-weighted sequences are used for magnetic resonance imaging of malignomas of the oral cavity and the oropharynx. The authors studied the utility of short tau inversion recovery fat suppression (STIR) in T2-weighted turbo spin echo sequences (TSE). Twenty patients with malignomas of the oral cavity and oropharynx were examined on a 1.0 Tesla magnetom using T2-weighted TSE-sequences with and without STIR as well as T1-weighted spin echo sequences before and after the application of contrast medium. STIR was successfull in all patients. STIR worsened the signal-noise-ratio significantly, but improved tumor delineation compared to T2-TSE without fat suppression in 75% according to three different investigators. The STIR technique is beneficial for the progress in diagnostic imaging of cancer of the oral cavity and oropharynx.