title: Usefulness of the Short-Echo Time Cube Sequence at 3-T Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography: Prospective Comparison With the Conventional 3-Dimensional Fast Spin-Echo Sequence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated prospectively the clinical use of the short-echo time (TE) Cube sequence for magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) at 3 T.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a 3-T unit, we subjected 41 consecutive patients to short-TE Cube MRCP and conventional 3-dimensional fast spin-echo (3D-FSE) MRCP. Two radiologists independently rated the image quality and the visibility of the right and left hepatic, cystic, common bile, and main pancreatic ducts and the gallbladder on a 4-point scale. The averaged visual scores by 2 readers for the image quality were calculated, and the artifacts were evaluated in cases with relatively lower (<3) score. The signal-to-noise ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, and acquisition time were evaluated by quantitative analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The visual scores of the common bile duct (P < 0.05), cystic duct (P < 0.01), and gallbladder (P < 0.01) were significantly higher for Cube than 3D-FSE MRCP. Signal-to-noise ratio was also significantly higher for Cube than 3D-FSE MRCP (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the image acquisition time (352.1 ± 93.0 vs 314.1 ± 126.2 seconds, P = 0.059). Four cases on 3D-FSE MRCP and 2 cases on Cube MRCP have relatively lower image quality; however, the difference was not significant (P = 0.18).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The visibility of biliary structures is significantly better on short-TE Cube MRCP than conventional 3D-FSE MRCP images at a clinically acceptable acquisition time.
authors.affiliation: From the *Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University; and †Department of Radiology, Minamata City General Hospital and Medical Center, Kumamoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Itatani
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Namimoto
authors.forename: Shinichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kusunoki
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mizuguchi
authors.forename: Shinichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohtsuka
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamashita
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000465:Algorithms; D001660:Biliary Tract Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D049448:Cholangiopancreatography, Magnetic Resonance / Q000379:methods*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D010182:Pancreatic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio; D013113:Spin Labels
chemical_list: D013113:Spin Labels