Comparison of gradient-recalled-echo and T2-weighted spin-echo pulse sequences in intramedullary spinal lesions.
Nineteen consecutive patients with spinal intramedullary lesions were studied on a 1.5-T system to compare the quality of T2-weighted spin-echo and gradient-recalled-echo (GRE) pulse sequences. Direct comparisons were made in the sagittal and/or axial planes. Twenty-four studies were performed in the 19 patients. The gradient echoes were usually performed at 300/14 (TR/TE) with a flip angle of 10 degrees. Although no significant diagnostic differences were noted in the sagittal plane, there was a distinct anatomic advantage for GRE imaging over spin-echo imaging in the axial plane. This is believed to be the result of CSF time-of-flight effects in the slice-select direction, which are not compensated for by flow-compensating gradients on the spin-echo images, but which are insignificant in the GRE sequence used in this study. Pathology was seen equally well or better on GRE in 79% (19/24) of the sequences. In the other five cases, the spin-echo image showed a brighter intramedullary signal than that seen on GRE, although GRE showed the lesion in all cases. Our results indicate that properly optimized GRE imaging on a high-field-strength system can replace spin-echo imaging in the spine when intramedullary disease is suspected and that the benefits of GRE are most striking in the axial plane.
Katz
B H
BH
Department of Radiology, University of Miami School of Medicine/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, FL 33101.
Quencer
R M
RM
Hinks
R S
RS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001100:Arachnoiditis / Q000175:diagnosis; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D009456:Neurofibromatosis 1 / Q000175:diagnosis; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000175:diagnosis; D013118:Spinal Cord Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000556:secondary; D013128:Spinal Osteophytosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D013595:Syringomyelia / Q000175:diagnosis