Comparison of MR sequences in early cerebral infarction at 0.5 T.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the diagnostic values of fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) and gradient spin-echo (GRASE) with those of conventional spin-echo (SE) and fast SE T2-weighted sequences in the evaluation of acute cerebrovascular lesions at 0.5 T.


METHODS
Twenty-two consecutive patients with the clinical diagnosis of acute cerebrovascular accident were examined by MR imaging within the first 48 h of ictus. MR examination included 5-mm axial conventional SE and turbo SE (TSE) T2-weighted, dual-echo GRASE and FLAIR sequences. The patients also had pre- and postcontrast T1-weighted axial images. Two examiners evaluated the images and scored the conspicuity of the acute lesions.


RESULTS
Regardless of location, FLAIR provided the best lesion conspicuity in the detection of acute infarcts, followed by the GRASE sequence. In the posterior fossa, TSE and SE demonstrated the lesions better than GRASE and FLAIR techniques. In the detection of hemorrhagic elements within the ischemic region, TSE demonstrated statistically significant superiority over other sequences.


CONCLUSIONS
In the detection of acute ischemic lesions in locations other than the posterior fossa, FLAIR provided the best lesion conspicuity among four T2-weighted sequences, including SE, TSE, GRASE and FLAIR. However, for the posterior fossa examination, preference of SE or TSE T2-weighted sequences is suggested.
Saatci
I
I
Radiology Department, Hacettepe University Hospital, Ankara. Turkey.
Baskan
O
O
Cekirge
H S
HS
Besim
A
A
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies