title: Contrast-enhanced radial 3D fat-suppressed T1-weighted gradient-recalled echo sequence versus conventional fat-suppressed contrast-enhanced T1-weighted studies of the head and neck.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Traditional fat-suppressed T1-weighted spin-echo or turbo spin-echo (TSE) sequences (T1-weighted images) may be degraded by motion and pulsation artifacts in head-and-neck studies. Our purpose is to evaluate the role of a fat-suppressed T1-weighted 3D radial gradient-recalled echo sequence (radial-volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination [VIBE]) in the head and neck as compared with standard contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted images.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively evaluated 21 patients (age range, 9-67 years) who underwent head-and-neck MRI at 1.5 T. Both contrast-enhanced radial-VIBE and conventional fat-suppressed TSE contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging were performed. Two radiologists evaluated multiple parameters of image quality, graded on a 5-point scale. Mixed-model analysis of variance and interobserver variability assessment were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The following parameters were scored as significantly better for the contrast-enhanced radial-VIBE sequence than for conventional contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging: overall image quality (p < 0.0001), degree of fat suppression (p = 0.006), mucosal enhancement (p = 0.004), muscle edge clarity (p = 0.049), vessel clarity (p < 0.0001), respiratory motion artifact (p = 0.002), pulsation artifact (p < 0.0001), and lesion edge sharpness (p = 0.004). Interobserver agreement in qualitative evaluation of the two sequences showed fair-to-good agreement for the following variables: overall image quality (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.779), degree of fat suppression (ICC, 0.716), mucosal enhancement (ICC, 0.693), muscle edge clarity (ICC, 0.675), respiratory motion artifact (ICC, 0.516), lesion enhancement (ICC, 0.410), and lesion edge sharpness (ICC, 0.538). Excellent agreement was shown for vessel clarity (ICC, 0.846) and pulsation artifact (ICC, 0.808).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The radial-VIBE sequence is a viable motion-robust improvement on the conventional fat-suppressed T1-weighted sequence.
authors.affiliation: 1 All authors: Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, 660 First Ave, 2nd Fl, New York, NY 10016.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Eytan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Raz
authors.forename: Tobias K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Block
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geppert
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Mary T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Bruno
authors.forename: Girish M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fatterpekar
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003287:Contrast Media; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005682:Gadolinium; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D005682:Gadolinium
keywords: MRI; contrast enhanced; neck; radial–volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination