Eiki Nagao1, Takashi Yoshiura1, Akio Hiwatashi1, Koji Yamashita1, Hironori Kamano1, Yukihisa Takayama1, Osamu Togao1, Makoto Obara2, Tomoyuki Okuaki2, Hiroshi Honda1
1Department of Clinical Radiology, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan; 2Philips Electoronics Japan, Japan
In this study, a turbo spin-echo with a motion-sensitized driven-equilibrium (MSDE) sequence was used as an alternative head MR imaging technique for brain metastasis. We hypothesized that MSDE suppresses signals from flowing blood in vessels that can mimic the enhancement of brain metastases. Post-contrast images of 18 patients were analyzed. In each patient, images were obtained using three sequences: 3D MPRAGE, 3D turbo spin echo (TSE) without MSDE, and 3D TSE with MSDE. Our results suggest that MSDE effectively suppresses blood vessel signals from both arteries and veins, while TSE without MSDE suppresses signal from arteries only.