Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati, OH, 45229, USA.
Department of Radiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Pediatr Radiol. 2021 Sep;51(10):1798-1808. doi: 10.1007/s00247-021-05087-8. Epub 2021 May 19.
As the safety and efficacy of fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3 tesla (T) continues to evolve, understanding its potential benefits and limitations is becoming increasingly important.
We aim to compare the image quality of fetal MRI between 1.5 T and 3 T in routine clinical practice.
Fetal MRIs performed at 3 T between Jan. 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2019, at our institution were retrospectively reviewed by four fellowship-trained subspecialty radiologists. Imaging quality by system, sequence and artifacts were compared with matched controls at 1.5 T and rated using a modified Likert scale.
Thirty-three fetal MRIs at 3 T were reviewed, and a control group of studies for the same clinical indication and equivalent gestational age were selected for comparison. Two of the four radiologists preferred 3-T image quality of the brain with slight agreement among the four reviewers (k=0.19, P=0.01). Three of the four radiologists had no preference for 1.5 T vs. 3 T in the majority of cases in evaluating the chest and abdomen. In the overall assessment, 3 T was preferred in less than half of cases by all four radiologists (k=0.07, P=0.26). In the evaluation of standing wave, moire fringe and magnetic susceptibility artifacts, 3 T was not preferred in the majority of studies by all four radiologists. Total exam time was significantly longer in the 3-T fetal MRIs (75.0±15.1 min) compared to the 1.5-T fetal MRIs (55.5±13.3 min, P<0.001).
While 3 T is a feasible alternative to 1.5 T for fetal MRI, the increased artifacts and longer exam times observed at 3 T without clear improvement in overall image quality make 1.5 T preferable for fetal MRI in routine clinical practice.
随着 3 特斯拉（T）胎儿磁共振成像（MRI）的安全性和有效性不断发展，了解其潜在的益处和局限性变得越来越重要。
我们旨在比较常规临床实践中 1.5T 和 3T 胎儿 MRI 的图像质量。
回顾性分析了 2019 年 1 月 1 日至 2019 年 12 月 31 日在我院行 3T 胎儿 MRI 的患者。四名接受过专科培训的放射科医生对图像质量进行了系统、序列和伪影的评估，并与 1.5T 的匹配对照组进行了比较，使用改良的李克特量表进行了评分。
共回顾了 33 例 3T 胎儿 MRI，并选择了相同临床指征和等效胎龄的对照组进行比较。四名放射科医生中的两名更倾向于 3T 脑图像质量，四名放射科医生的意见略有一致（κ=0.19，P=0.01）。在评估胸部和腹部时，四名放射科医生中的三名在大多数情况下对 1.5T 和 3T 没有偏好。在整体评估中，四名放射科医生中有不到一半的人更喜欢 3T（κ=0.07，P=0.26）。在评估驻波、莫尔条纹和磁敏感性伪影时，四名放射科医生中的大多数人都不喜欢大多数情况下的 3T 研究。所有 3T 胎儿 MRI 的检查时间（75.0±15.1min）明显长于 1.5T 胎儿 MRI（55.5±13.3min，P<0.001）。
虽然 3T 是胎儿 MRI 的可行替代方案，但在 3T 中观察到的伪影增加和检查时间延长，而整体图像质量没有明显改善，使得 1.5T 在常规临床实践中更适合胎儿 MRI。
