Purpose: To investigate the value of contrast-enhanced motion-sensitized driven equilibrium (MSDE) based black blood three-dimensional (3D) turbo spin echo (TSE) sequence in the detection of brain metastases compared with 3D Turbo Field Echo (TFE) sequence.
Material and methods: 53 patients with suspected brain metastases were included in this study between November 2021 and February 2022. Contrast-enhanced cranial 3D TFE and MSDE-based 3D black blood TSE MR imaging were performed for each patient. Two senior neuroradiologists independently evaluated all contrast-enhanced 3D TFE and 3D black blood TSE images to detect brain metastases. The images were divided into two groups: the TFE group and the black blood TSE group. Agreement between the two reviewers for detection of the brain metastases in each group was performed using the kappa test. The two reviewers determined the final result for brain metastasis in the two groups by consensus. A paired t-test was performed for the final detection of brain metastases between the black blood TSE group and the TFE group.
Results: There was a very good agreement between the two reviewers for the TSE group (kappa = 0.823) and a good agreement for the TFE group (kappa = 0.663). There was a statistical difference in the detection of small cortical and subcortical metastases between the TFE and the black blood TSE groups (t = 5.039, P = 0.000 < 0.05). There was no statistical difference in the detection of small supratentorial deep lesions and subtentorial lesions between the two groups.
Conclusion: Compared with conventional 3D TFE sequence, MSDE-based black blood 3D TSE sequence was superior for visualizing small brain metastases, especially small cortical and subcortical metastases.
Keywords: 3D TFE; 3D black blood TSE; Brain metastases; MSDE.
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