MRI of the brain and cervical spine: first choice in the detection of abnormalities. Preliminary study.

The preliminary results are presented of a comparative study between MRI and CT in 150 patients from the University Hospital Utrecht. The purpose is through a prospective study to make more definitive assessments about the role and the value of MRI in the region of the brain and cervical spine. If compared with CT, no abnormalities were missed with MRI in 150 cases; MRI detected more lesions than CT, and often more information was provided by MRI. Spin-echo pulse sequence with long multiple echoes and short repetition time proved to be a sensitive detection method with sufficient tissue characterization for diagnosis. In the opinion of the authors, MRI should be the first step in detecting abnormalities of the brain and cervical spine.