Orbital and ocular imaging using 3- and 1.5-T MR imaging systems.
The goal of this article is to familiarize general radiologists and clinicians (particularly ophthalmologists, neuro-ophthalmologists, neurologists, and neurosurgeons) with the recent introduction of clinical MR imaging scanners operating at a magnetic field strength of 3-T and to compare them with the more common standard scanners operating at 1.5-T. In this study, MR imaging at 3-T was found to offer superior depiction of orbital and intracranial anatomy and pathologic findings. Spin echo, high spatial resolution, T2-weighted, thin-section MR imaging sequences are especially useful and sensitive at 3-T for the evaluation of orbital, ocular, and intracranial anatomy and pathologic findings. The authors din that time-of-flight (TOF) MR angiography at 3-T surpasses the best MR angiography at 1.5-T and that two-dimensional TOF venography and three-dimensional contrast MR venography at 3-T offer superior visualization of intracranial and facial veins as compared with MR venography at 1.5-T. We believe that with further quality image production and efficient coil design, 3-T MR imaging should hold the promise of playing an important role in the diagnostic imaging evaluation of ocular, orbital, and optic pathway pathologic findings.
Mafee
Mahmood F
MF
Department of Radiology, University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, 1740 West Taylor Street, MC 931, Chicago, IL 60612, USA. mfmafee@uic.edu
Rapoport
Mark
M
Karimi
Afshin
A
Ansari
Sameer A
SA
Shah
Jay
J
D016477:Artifacts; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity