title: Elimination of chemical shift artifacts of thoracic spine with contrast-enhanced FLAIR imaging with fat suppression at 3.0 T.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of chemical shift artifacts and fat suppression between contrast-enhanced T1-weighted fast spin-echo (FSE) sequence with fat suppression and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequence with fat suppression in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the thoracic spine at 3.0T. Forty patients, who underwent MRI examination, were recruited and analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Due to chemical shift artifacts in the T1-weighted FSE, 14 of the patients were found to be of non-diagnostic value. On the contrary, in 11 of those 14 patients, no chemical shift artifacts were observed in the T1-weighted FLAIR sequence. Regarding the efficiency of fat suppression, both sequences achieved successful fat suppression. Consequently, the use of T1-weighted FLAIR fat suppression after contrast administration sequence seems to eliminate or significantly reduce image quality deterioration stemming from chemical shift artifacts in thoracic spine examinations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Larissa, 41110, Viopolis, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lavdas
authors.forename: Panayiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mavroidis
authors.forename: Katerina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vassiou
authors.forename: Violeta
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Roka
authors.forename: Ioannis V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Fezoulidis
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vlychou
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D016477:Artifacts; D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA