NIR DIAGNOSIS OF MENISCAL TEARS OF THE KNEE - VALUE OF FAST SPIN-ECHOVS CONVENTIONAL SPIN-ECHO PULSE SEQUENCES

OBJECTIVE. Contrast can be similar on fast spin-echo and conventional spin-echo MR images, but data acquisition is faster with fast spin-ech o sequences. This study was designed to evaluate the performance of fa st spin-echo sequences in the detection of meniscal tears in the knee, with the established conventional spin-echo technique used as a refer ence standard. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. We imaged 66 consecutive patients (129 menisci) who were referred for MR examination with suspected men iscal tears. We used our routine two-dimensional, multisection, long r epetition time/double-echo spin-echo sequence and one of two fast spin -echo sequences. The fast spin-echo parameters were chosen to minimize the loss of high-resolution detail while otherwise maintaining the se quence as close as possible to the spin-echo sequence. We then did a r etrospective evaluation of the fast spin-echo images, using the spin-e cho images as the gold standard. RESULTS. Fast spin-echo images showed only 30 (65%) of the 46 meniscal tears seen on the conventional spin- echo images. In addition, four of the 30 tears seen with both sequence s were diagnosed with greater confidence on the conventional spin-echo images. In the cases in which both sequences allowed a diagnosis of d efinite meniscal tear, the abnormalities tended to be more conspicuous on the spin-echo images. CONCLUSION. Our results suggest that the fas t spin-echo sequence should not be used for the diagnosis of meniscal tears.