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Water excitation MPRAGE: An alternative sequence for postcontrast imaging of the abdomen in noncooperative patients at 1.5 Tesla and 3.0 Tesla MRI
Author(s) -
Altun Ersan,
Semelka Richard C.,
Dale Brian M.,
Elias Jorge
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.21346
Subject(s) - medicine , nuclear medicine , wilcoxon signed rank test , kappa , fast spin echo , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging , image quality , mann–whitney u test , mathematics , geometry , artificial intelligence , computer science , image (mathematics)
Abstract Purpose To evaluate the diagnostic image quality of postgadolinium water excitation–magnetization‐prepared rapid gradient‐echo (WE‐MPRAGE) sequence in abdominal examinations of noncooperative patients at 1.5 Tesla (T) and 3.0T MRI. Materials and Methods Eighty‐nine consecutive patients (48 males and 41 females; mean age ± standard deviation, 54.6 ± 16.6 years) who had MRI examinations including postgadolinium WE‐MPRAGE were included in the study. Of 89 patients, 33 underwent noncooperative protocol at 1.5T, 10 underwent noncooperative protocol at 3.0T, and 46 underwent cooperative protocol at 3.0T. Postgadolinium WE‐MPRAGE, MPRAGE, and three‐dimensional gradient‐echo sequences of these three different groups were qualitatively evaluated for image quality, extent of artifacts, lesion conspicuity, and homogeneity of fat‐attenuation by two reviewers retrospectively, independently, and blindly. The results were compared using Wilcoxon signed rank and Mann‐Whitney U tests. Kappa statistics were used to measure the extent of agreement between the reviewers. Results The average scores indicated that the images were diagnostic for WE‐MPRAGE at 1.5T and 3.0T in noncooperative patients. WE‐MPRAGE achieved homogenous fat‐attenuation in 31/33 (94%) of noncooperative patients at 1.5T and 10/10 (100%) of noncooperative patients at 3.0T. WE‐MPRAGE at 3.0T had better results for image quality, extent of artifacts, lesion conspicuity and homogeneity of fat‐attenuation compared with WE‐MPRAGE at 1.5T, in noncooperative patients ( P = 0.0008, 0.0006, 0.0024, and 0.0042; respectively). Kappa statistics varied between 0.76 and 1.00, representing good to excellent agreement. Conclusion WE‐MPRAGE may be used as a T1‐weighted postgadolinium fat‐attenuated sequence in noncooperative patients, particularly at 3.0T MRI. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;27:1146–1154. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.