PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hiwatashi, A.
AU  - Yoshiura, T.
AU  - Togao, O.
AU  - Yamashita, K.
AU  - Kikuchi, K.
AU  - Kobayashi, K.
AU  - Ohga, M.
AU  - Sonoda, S.
AU  - Honda, H.
AU  - Obara, M.
TI  - Evaluation of Diffusivity in the Anterior Lobe of the Pituitary Gland: 3D Turbo Field Echo with Diffusion-Sensitized Driven-Equilibrium Preparation
AID  - 10.3174/ajnr.A3620
DP  - 2014 Jan 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 95--98
VI  - 35
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/35/1/95.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/35/1/95.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2014 Jan 01; 35
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: 3D turbo field echo with diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium preparation is a non–echo-planar technique for DWI, which enables high-resolution DWI without field inhomogeneity–related image distortion. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium turbo field echo in evaluating diffusivity in the normal pituitary gland. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, validation of diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium turbo field echo was attempted by comparing it with echo-planar DWI. Five healthy volunteers were imaged by using diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium turbo field echo and echo-planar DWI. The imaging voxel size was 1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 mm3 for diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium turbo field echo and 1.5 × 1.9 × 3.0 mm3 for echo-planar DWI. ADCs measured by the 2 methods in 15 regions of interests (6 in gray matter and 9 in white matter) were compared by using the Pearson correlation coefficient. The ADC in the pituitary anterior lobe was then measured in 10 volunteers by using diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium turbo field echo, and the results were compared with those in the pons and vermis by using a paired t test. RESULTS: The ADCs from the 2 methods showed a strong correlation (r = 0.79; P < .0001), confirming the accuracy of the ADC measurement with the diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium sequence. The ADCs in the normal pituitary gland were 1.37 ± 0.13 × 10−3 mm2/s, which were significantly higher than those in the pons (1.01 ± 0.24 × 10−3 mm2/s) and the vermis (0.89 ± 0.25 × 10−3 mm2/s, P < .01). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that diffusion-sensitized driven-equilibrium turbo field echo is feasible in assessing ADC in the pituitary gland. DSDEdiffusion-sensitized driven-equilibriumEPecho-planarTFEturbo field echo