MR imaging of cervical spine motion with HASTE.
The HASTE (half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo) technique delivers images with T2-weighting in about half a second and could be ideal for fast dynamic studies when T2-weighting is needed. We evaluated cardiac-triggered HASTE to study cervical spine flexion/extension. The cervical spines of ten asymptomatic volunteers were studied during flexion/extension motion on a 1.5 Tesla imager using a cardiac triggered version of the HASTE technique. Midline sagittal images were acquired every 2 to 3 s during neck flexion and extension. Image quality was compared to traditional T2-weighted Turbo spin-echo. The study duration per flexion/ extension was typically less than 20 seconds and well tolerated. The cardiac-gated T2-weighted HASTE images compared favorably to the traditional T2-weighted TSE images in quality and overall anatomic detail. Range of motion averaged: flexion 30 degrees (range 8 degrees -48 degrees) and extension 23 degrees (range 0 degrees -57 degrees ). Greatest motion occurred in the lower cervical spine (C4-C7). At the intervertebral discs the canal diameter, anterior and posterior CSF spaces were widest in neutral position and decreased with flexion and extension. Therefore, Cardiac-gated T2 HASTE sequences provide diagnostic and time-efficient dynamic MR images of cervical spine motion.
Duerinckx
A J
AJ
Radiology Service, VA Medical Center, West Los Angeles, CA 90073, USA. ajd@ucla.edu
Yu
W D
WD
El-Saden
S
S
Kim
D
D
Wang
J C
JC
Sandhu
H S
HS
D000328:Adult; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D019416:Head Movements / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity