Short tau inversion recovery fast spin-echo (fast STIR) imaging of the spinal cord in multiple sclerosis.
The short tau inversion recovery fast spin-echo pulse sequence (fast STIR) combines the synergistic T1 and T2 contrast mechanism of conventional STIR with the reduced imaging time of fast spin-echo (FSE). We have compared fast STIR with T2-weighted FSE in evaluating the spinal cord lesions in 17 patients with multiple sclerosis and 12 healthy controls. Intrinsic lesions were seen only in patients. Twenty-five of the 58 lesions identified were more clearly demonstrated by fast STIR, 22 by FSE. Signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratios were higher in all cases on FSE, suggesting other mechanisms, in particular choice of window settings and brightness of surrounding structures, must play a part in lesion conspicuousness. Fast STIR is a useful adjunct to FSE in the evaluation of multiple sclerosis in the spinal cord.
Thorpe
J W
JW
Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
MacManus
D G
DG
Kendall
B E
BE
Tofts
P S
PS
Barker
G J
GJ
McDonald
W I
WI
Miller
D H
DH
D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D013382:Subtraction Technique