Magic Angle Effect: A Relevant Artifact in MR Neurography at 3T?

Thorsten Kstel¹, Sabine Heiland, Philipp Baeumer, Andreas Bartsch, Martin Bendszus, Mirko Pham

MR Neurography (MRN) is an emerging diagnostic test to localize nerve lesions by hyperintense T2-w contrast. An artefact potentially mimicking lesions is the Magic Angle Effect appearing in tissue densely composed of collagen. To what extent this artefact is able to provoke false positive findings in MRN is unclear. In this experimental study, 25 healthy subjects underwent MRN of the sciatic nerve using a dual-echo turbo-spin-echo sequence to calculate T2-relaxation at seven precisely adjusted angles relative to B0. We show, that the potential for false positive findings is low, particularly at angulations < 30 relative to B0.