Jones K M, Schwartz R B, Mantello M T, Ahn S S, Khorasani R, Mukherji S, Oshio K, Mulkern R V
Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA.
AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1994 Mar;15(3):401-7.
To examine the relative capabilities for the detection of vertebral metastases of three available fast spin-echo sequences: T1-weighted fast spin-echo, short tau inversion recovery (STIR) fast spin-echo, and T2-weighted fast spin-echo sequences with chemical shift selective saturation pulse fat suppression.
Fourteen patients were evaluated prospectively over a 2-month period with T1-weighted fast spin-echo (four echo train, four acquisitions, 1 min 59 sec-2 min 37 sec). STIR fast spin-echo (16 echo train, four acquisitions, 2 min 30 sec-3 min 19 sec), and T2-weighted fast spin-echo (16 echo train, 4 acquisitions, 2 min 27 sec-3 min 16 sec). For all three pulse sequences, measurements were obtained of the signal intensities of normal marrow, abnormal marrow, fat, and noise posterior to the spine. Contrast-to-noise ratios were calculated for metastases in each case. Lesions were evaluated by three observers and rated for size, location, and conspicuity.
Signal intensities of fat, normal marrow, and noise were highest for T1-weighted fast spin-echo sequences. STIR fast spin-echo and fat-suppressed T2-weighted fast spin-echo had approximately similar fat-suppression capabilities. Though contrast-to-noise ratios were highest overall for STIR fast spin-echo, the finding was not statistically significant and lesion conspicuity was deemed better with fat-suppressed T2-weighted fast spin-echo and T1-weighted fast spin-echo images. Discrete lesions were well identified on all three pulse sequences.
Fast spin-echo sequences appear promising for the detection of vertebral metastases. Further work should be directed toward comparison with conventional spin-echo to determine whether fast spin-echo may replace conventional spin-echo sequences for evaluation of vertebral metastases.
研究三种可用的快速自旋回波序列检测椎体转移瘤的相对能力：T1加权快速自旋回波、短反转时间反转恢复（STIR）快速自旋回波以及带有化学位移选择性饱和脉冲脂肪抑制的T2加权快速自旋回波序列。
在2个月的时间里，对14例患者进行前瞻性评估，采用T1加权快速自旋回波（四回波链，四次采集，1分59秒 - 2分37秒）、STIR快速自旋回波（16回波链，四次采集，2分30秒 - 3分19秒）以及T2加权快速自旋回波（16回波链，4次采集，2分27秒 - 3分16秒）。对于所有这三种脉冲序列，测量脊柱后方正常骨髓、异常骨髓、脂肪和噪声的信号强度。计算每种情况下转移瘤的对比噪声比。由三名观察者对病变进行评估，并对大小、位置和清晰度进行评分。
T1加权快速自旋回波序列中脂肪、正常骨髓和噪声的信号强度最高。STIR快速自旋回波和脂肪抑制的T2加权快速自旋回波具有大致相似的脂肪抑制能力。尽管STIR快速自旋回波的总体对比噪声比最高，但这一发现无统计学意义，并且脂肪抑制的T2加权快速自旋回波和T1加权快速自旋回波图像的病变清晰度更好。离散病变在所有三种脉冲序列上均能清晰识别。
快速自旋回波序列在检测椎体转移瘤方面似乎很有前景。应进一步开展工作，与传统自旋回波进行比较，以确定快速自旋回波是否可替代传统自旋回波序列用于评估椎体转移瘤。
