Improved Head and Neck Contrast Enhanced Imaging Using High Resolution Isotropic 3D T1 SPACE: A Feasibility Study

Magalie Viallon¹, Karen Masterson¹, Minerva Becker¹

Post Gadolinium MR head and neck examinations remain challenging due to the need for a large anatomic coverage in minimum acquisition time. For cranial nerves and skull base investigation, 3D acquisitions are very useful not only to better visualize and analyze the nerves but also to provide large head and neck coverage of often extended or multi focal pathology. Until recently, 3D acquisitions implemented to image the head and neck area were based on gradient echo imaging kernel (T1 3D Vibe FS, T1 MP-RAGE. Unfortunately, fast 3D T1w gradient echo imaging is limited by the presence of air-tissue interfaces and inherent susceptibility artefacts. Nevertheless, to study the whole course of nerves and localize focal or global contrast enhancement, a fat saturated spin-echo 3D T1 sequence seems more adequate. We investigate here the utility of 3D T1 FS Space (Sampling Perfection with Application optimized Contrasts using different flip angle Evolutions) for head and neck imaging at 3T and its clinical relevance in various pathologies of this region.