- Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: MR Black-Blood Thrombus Imaging with Enhanced Blood Signal Suppression
Twenty-six participants underwent conventional imaging methods followed by 2 randomized black-blood thrombus imaging scans, with a preoptimized DANTE preparation switched on and off, respectively. The signal intensity of residual blood, thrombus, brain parenchyma, normal lumen, and noise on black-blood thrombus images were measured. The thrombus volume, SNR of residual blood, and contrast-to-noise ratio for residual blood versus normal lumen, thrombus versus residual blood, and brain parenchyma versus normal lumen were compared between the 2 black-blood thrombus imaging techniques. The new black-blood thrombus imaging technique provided higher thrombus-to-residual blood contrast-to-noise ratio, significantly lower thrombus volume, and substantially improved diagnostic specificity and agreement with conventional imaging methods.