Initial experience with 3D isotropic high-resolution 3 T MR arthrography of the wrist

Abstract

BackgroundOur study was performed to evaluate the image quality of 3 T MR wrist arthrograms with attention to ulnar wrist structures, comparing image quality of isotropic 3D proton density fat suppressed turbo spin echo (PDFS TSE) sequence versus standard 2D 3 T sequences as well as comparison with 1.5 T MR arthrograms.MethodsEleven consecutive 3 T MR wrist arthrograms were performed and the following sequences evaluated: 3D isotropic PDFS, repetition time/echo time (TR/TE) 1400/28.3 ms, voxel size 0.35x0.35x0.35 mm, acquisition time 5 min; 2D coronal sequences with slice thickness 2 mm: T1 fat suppressed turbo spin echo (T1FS TSE) (TR/TE 600/20 ms); proton density (PD) TSE (TR/TE 3499/27 ms). A 1.5 T group of 18 studies with standard sequences were evaluated for comparison. All MR imaging followed fluoroscopically guided intra-articular injection of dilute gadolinium contrast. Qualitative assessment related to delineation of anatomic structures between 1.5 T and 3 T MR arthrograms was carried out using Mann–Whitney test and the differences in delineation of anatomic structures among each sequence in 3 T group were analyzed with Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Quantitative assessment of mean relative signal intensity (SI) and relative contrast measurements was performed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test.ResultsMean qualitative scores for 3 T sequences were significantly higher than 1.5 T (p < 0.01), with isotropic 3D PDFS sequence having highest mean qualitative scores (p < 0.05). Quantitative analysis demonstrated no significant difference in relative signal intensity among the 3 T sequences. Significant differences were found in relative contrast between fluid-bone and fluid-fat comparing 3D and 2D PDFS (p < 0.01).Conclusions3D isotropic PDFS sequence showed promise in both qualitative and quantitative assessment, suggesting this may be useful for MR wrist arthrograms at 3 T. Primary reasons for diagnostic potential include the ability to make reformations in any obliquity to follow the components of ulnar side wrist structures including triangular fibrocartilage complex. Additionally, isotropic imaging provides thinner slice thickness with less partial volume averaging allowing for identification of subtle injuries.

Comparison between high‐field 3 Tesla MRI and computed tomography with and without arthrography for visualization of canine carpal ligaments: A cadaveric study

“…Second, the qualitative assessment performed by visual evaluation and scoring of the ligaments may have been susceptible to inaccuracy because of the subjective perspective of the observers. A quantitative assessment by measuring relative signal intensity and relative contrast of the ligaments on digital images has been described, and could have been a more objective methodology. However, the clinical and practical utility of the individual imaging modality was questioned, and, as such, the qualitative assessment of the observers was investigated.…”

High-Resolution 3T MR Imaging of the Triangular Fibrocartilage Complex

“…The thin contiguous sections with isotropic 3D MR imaging eliminate the partial volume averaging which occurs with 2D FSE imaging. 19 And finally, 3D MR imaging allows a decreased acquisition time as a function of obtaining a single isotropic 3D sequence versus three (axial, coronal, and sagittal) 2D sequences. 20 Yamabe et al 21 found that it took approximately 23 min to obtain imaging using a 2D sequence in three planes with and without fat suppression, while taking just 10 min to obtain equivalent isotropic 3D FSE images.…”

Diagnostic performance of wrist magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography: comparison of three-dimensional isotropic T 1 weighted fast spin-echo MR arthrography and two-dimensional MR arthrography

“…Although several studies have compared the diagnostic performances of 3D isotropic sequences and 2D sequences in the wrist joints, most of these used a gradient-recalled echo sequence 8,23 or FSE images with intermediate-weighted sequences. 8,21,22 We used 3D isotropic T 1 weighted FSE sequences in this study, and to our knowledge, it was the first such study on the wrist joint. This sequence uses flip angle sweep, short and non-volume selective refocusing pulse, and parallel imaging, which makes it possible to get shorter echo spacing and a better signal-tonoise ratio.…”

“…10,[18][19][20] However, the number of studies that have used 3D isotropic FSE techniques in the wrist joint is limited. 8,21,22 Additionally, although the D-MRA 3D isotropic FSE sequence provides high contrast and spatial resolution, only one study to date has reported the diagnostic performance of 3D isotropic FSE D-MRA for the wrist joint. 21 However, they used 3D isotropic proton-density FSE MRI instead of T 1 weighted FSE MRI and did not use the arthroscopic findings Full paper: Diagnostic performance of wrist magnetic resonance (MR) arthrography BJR as the gold standard.…”