MR imaging of optic nerve lesions: value of gadopentetate dimeglumine and fat-suppression technique.

Comparison of 3D double inversion recovery and 2D STIR FLAIR MR sequences for the imaging of optic neuritis: pilot study

“…This sequence which is widely used routinely to rule out inflammatory lesions may potentially replace the dedicated coronal 2D sequence covering the orbits commonly performed in patients with a suspected ON. Suppression of fat, using STIR or SPIR techniques, has been reported to be useful for the imaging of orbital lesions [5][6][7]. However, the major drawback of this technique concerns the high signal intensity from the perineural CSF leading to volume averaging between the signal intensity of the optic nerve on T2-weighted images and the CSF [9].…”

“…Perineural cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may also produce partial volume averaging with nerve T2 signal abnormality [4]. Several studies have previously demonstrated the added value of fat saturation for the imaging of optic nerves [5][6][7] using either short tau inversion recovery (STIR) or frequency-specific spectral presaturation inversion recovery (SPIR) techniques. The best diagnostic performance is currently reached by T2-weighted MR sequences that include both fat and water suppression [8][9][10].…”

MR Imaging of Optic Neuropathy with Extended Echo-Train Acquisition Fluid-Attenuated Inversion Recovery

“…2,5,6 Despite their widespread use, FS techniques, such as STIR, SPIR, and T2 FSE FS, all have the production of high signal intensity from CSF in the perineural sheath. High signal intensity from CSF poses 2 major problems: First, optic nerve signal-intensity abnormalities are made less conspicuous by volume averaging with CSF.…”

“…Therefore, several studies have shown benefits from FS sequences. [4][5][6] The use of FS with a STIR, frequency-specific SPIR, or T2-weighted FSE sequence with FS improves diagnostic sensitivity. Heavy T2-weighting can also improve accuracy, but as T2-weighting increases, the CSF signal intensity also increases, which can produce partial volume averaging artifacts, obscuring signal-intensity abnormality within the optic nerve.…”

Imaging of Optic Neuropathy and Chiasmal Syndromes

“…Fat saturation sequences with intravenous gadolinium are helpful in detecting optic neuritis, neoplasms, postoperative changes, and optic nerve infarction. 8,9 PATHOLOGY Optic Neuropathy Optic neuritis Optic neuritis is a clinical diagnosis of optic nerve inflammation secondary to demyelination. A typical clinical scenario is a young white woman presenting with rapid onset of painful vision loss with optic disc swelling seen on fundoscopy.…”