PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hori, Masaaki
AU  - Okubo, Toshiyuki
AU  - Uozumi, Kazuhito
AU  - Ishigame, Keiichi
AU  - Kumagai, Hiroshi
AU  - Araki, Tsutomu
TI  - T1-Weighted Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery at Low Field Strength: A Viable Alternative for T1-Weighted Intracranial Imaging
DP  - 2003 Apr 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 648--651
VI  - 24
IP  - 4
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/24/4/648.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/24/4/648.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2003 Apr 01; 24
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: T1-weighted spin-echo imaging has been widely used to study anatomic detail and abnormalities of the brain; however, the image contrast of this technique is often poor, especially at low field strengths. We tested a new pulse sequence, T1-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), which provides good contrast between lesions, surrounding edematous tissue, and normal parenchyma at low field strengths and at acquisition times comparable to those of T1-weighted spin-echo imaging.METHODS: Thirteen patients with brain lesions underwent T1-weighted spin-echo and T1-weighted FLAIR imaging during the same imaging session. T1-weighted spin-echo and T1-weighted FLAIR images were compared on the basis of four quantitative (lesion-white matter [WM] contrast-to-noise ratio [CNR], lesion-CSF CNR, gray matter-WM CNR, and WM-CSF CNR) and three qualitative criteria (conspicuousness of lesions, image artifacts, and overall image contrast).RESULTS: CNRs obtained with T1-weighted FLAIR were comparable but statistically superior to those obtained with T1-weighted spin-echo imaging. In general, T1-weighted FLAIR and T1-weighted spin-echo imaging produced comparable image artifacts. Conspicuousness of lesions and the overall image contrast were judged to be superior on T1-weighted FLAIR images.CONCLUSION: T1-weighted FLAIR imaging may be a valuable alternative to conventional T1-weighted imaging, because the former technique offers superior image contrast at low field strengths and comparable acquisition times.