Initial clinical experience in MR imaging of the brain with a fast fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery pulse sequence

John N. Rydberg, Charlotte A. Hammond, Roger C. Grimm, Bradley J. Erickson, Clifford R. Jack, John Huston, Stephen J. Riederer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

255 Scopus citations

Abstract

PURPOSE: To evaluate fast fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery (FLAIR) technique for imaging brain abnormalities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A fast FLAIR sequence was developed that provided 36 5-mm contiguous sections in 5 minutes 8 seconds. Resulting images were compared with dual-echo T2-weighted spin-echo images of 41 consecutive patients with brain abnormalities. RESULTS: Contrast and contrast-tonoise ratios (C/Ns) (for contrast between the lesion and background and between the lesion and cerebrospinal fluid) for fast FLAIR exceeded the corresponding values for T2-weighted spin-echo images for all but the second-echo lesion-to-background C/N. Fast FLAIR provided equivalent or greater overall lesion conspicuity and enabled greater lesion detection in 98% and 100%, respectively, of the evaluations. Fast FLAIR images more often had image artifact, but this did not interfere with image interpretation in a significantly (P ≤ .05) greater number of evaluations. CONCLUSION: Fast FLAIR provides images that are superior to proton-density- and T2-weighted images for many image quality criteria.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)173-180
Number of pages8
JournalRadiology
Volume193
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1994

Keywords

  • Brain, MR, 10.121413
  • Brain, abnormalities, 10.30, 10.781, 10.871
  • Magnetic resonance (MR), pulse sequences

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Initial clinical experience in MR imaging of the brain with a fast fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery pulse sequence'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this