Aims and objectives
The high contrast resolution,
possibility of tissue characterization,
multiplanar imaging,
lack of ionizing radiation and the increasing availability of scanners,
made MRI an important tool in female pelvis diagnostic,
specifically in ovarian and uterine pathology.
(1-5)
Fasting,
empty bladder and compression by a pelvic band,
reduce the movement and phase artifacts caused by peristaltic movements of the intestine and other organs (fig.1),
as well as pelvic respiratory artifacts.
However,
other resources,
such as the intravenous administration of anti-spasmodic drugs (glucagon or hyoscine butyl-bromide) are often...
Methods and materials
Study population
Thirty female patients clinically referred for a pelvic MRI scanner were included in the study.
No fasting or specific preparation was required prior to the MR exam.
Image acquisition
Image was acquired in a 1.5T whole body MR scanner (Magnetom Avanto Siemens Healthcare,
Erlangen,
Germany) using a six-channel phased array body coil,
with the patient in the supine position.
The protocol included a high resolution sagittal T2-TSE (TR/TE 4800/86ms,
FOV 200mm,
voxel size 0.8x0.8x3mm,
Flip Angle 139º and a factor 2 of Parallel...
Results
The mean age of patients in this study was 37.8 years.
Three (10%) patients reported transitory blurred vision,
which is in concordance with previously published studies (11).
In the quantitative analysis,
the T2-TSE-BLADE had the higher CNR (47.89 ± 35.81) and higher SNR (71.74 ± 4911,
mean±SD) of the myometrium as compared to the other 2 sequences (p=0.004),
followed by the sagittal T2-TSE-iv,
with CNR (29.36 ± 15.80) and SNR (41.42 ± 16.97,
mean±SD),
as shown in table 1.
SD in was higher in T2-TSE-Blade...
Conclusion
This study demonstrates a significant positive effect on pelvic MRI image quality of the intravenous administration of antispasmodic drug,
suggesting that its use is still the best technique to reduce motion artifacts and improve image quality,
with an obvious preference as the sequence of choice for the radiologists.
Despite the fact that the T2-TSE-BLADE sequence shows fewer artifacts,
caused by the elimination of the ghosting artifacts (fig.
5),
the uterine layer differentiation and global quality was approximately equal to a standard T2-TSE.
In summary,
BLADE...
References
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ACR Practice Guideline for the Performance of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the Soft Tissue Components of the Pelvis.
Reston,
VA: American College of Radiology;Amended 2006.
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