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Multiple sclerosis lesions develop around small veins that are radiologically described as the so-called central vein sign. With 7T MR imaging and magnetic susceptibility-based sequences, the central vein sign has been observed in 80%–100% of MS lesions in patients' brains. However, a lower proportion ∼50% has been reported at 3T using SWAN. The authors' aim was to assess a modified version of SWAN optimized at 3T for sensitive detection of the central vein sign. Thirty subjects with MS were scanned on a 3T clinical MR imaging system. 3D T2-weighted FLAIR and optimized 3D SWAN, called SWAN-venule, were acquired after injection of a gadolinium-based contrast agent. Overall, the central vein sign was detected in 86% of the white matter lesions (periventricular, 89%; deep white matter, 95%; and juxtacortical, 78%). The SWAN-venule technique is an optimized MR imaging sequence for highly sensitive detection of the central vein sign in MS brain lesions.