The Increased Detectivity of Punctate White Matter Lesions in Neonatal Brains by Using Three-Dimensional High Spatial Resolution T1 Weighted Images

Qinli Sun¹, Yumiao Zhang¹, Jie Gao¹, Jianghong Han¹, Bolang Yu¹, Jian Yang¹

The purpose in this study is to compare detected numbers of punctate white matter lesion (PWML) between 3D-FSPGR T1WI and other MRI sequences. A total of 294 lesions were detected on 3D-FSPGR T1WI, while only 158, 131, 129, 85, 34 lesions were observed on ADC, T2WI, reconstructed T1WI, magnitude and phase maps respectively. The detectivity of PWML between 3D-FSPGR T1WI and other MR sequences showed significant difference. This study first demonstrates that 3D T1WI is more sensitive in detecting PWML in neonatal brains relative to other MRI sequences. It is greatly recommended to use 3D T1WI as a routine sequence for neonatal brain MR examination.