Spiral spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging of the pelvis with spectrally and spatially selective radiofrequency excitation: comparison with fat-saturated fast spin-echo imaging.
OBJECTIVE
The authors describe their initial clinical experience in comparing a spiral spin-echo technique with a fat-saturated fast spin-echo technique for imaging the pelvis.


METHODS
A total of 18 patients were imaged with both spiral spin-echo and fat-saturated fast spin-echo magnetic resonance imaging. The spiral spin-echo technique combines a spectrally and spatially selective radiofrequency excitation with a spiral k-space trajectory. This technique permits rapid acquisition of T2-weighted water-only images.


RESULTS
The spiral spin-echo images were judged superior to the fat-saturated fast spin-echo images in terms of uniformity of fat suppression and absence of flow-related artifacts. However, the overall image quality of the spiral spin-echo images was inferior to that of the fat-saturated fast spin-echo images, as a result of blurring caused by off resonance effects. The two techniques were judged equivalent in terms of conspicuity of the abnormality and diagnostic information.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors conclude that the spiral spin-echo technique holds promise, particularly if combined with a deblurring algorithm.
Yacoe
M E
ME
Department of Radiology, Stanford University Medical Center, CA 94305, USA.
Li
K C
KC
Cheung
L
L
Meyer
C H
CH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010388:Pelvis / Q000033:anatomy & histology*