STIR imaging of synthetic vascular graft infection.

Nine patients with suspected prosthetic vascular graft infection were studied with axial spin echo (SE) and short TI inversion recovery (STIR) magnetic resonance imaging. Images were assessed for presence and extent of abnormality. All patients had either surgical (8/9) or bacteriologic (6/9) confirmation of infection. STIR images better defined the extent of infection and had greater fat-fluid contrast than SE images in 6/9 studies. In 3 cases with peri-graft fluid alone, T2-weighted images had slightly greater contrast, although the STIR images were still diagnostic. STIR imaging can offer improved accuracy in evaluation of suspected prosthetic graft infection when used in conjunction with SE techniques.