A COMPARISON OF FAST AND CONVENTIONAL T2 WEIGHTED SPIN-ECHO SEQUENCESIN THE DETECTION OF FOCAL LIVER-LESIONS AT 1.0T

Conventional and fast T2-weighted spin-echo scans obtained at 1.0 T we re compared in 29 patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging of th e liver, 25 of whom had focal liver lesions, Conventional spin-echo (C SE) detected 49 of 50 lesions (98%), fast spin-echo (FSE) 45 of 50 les ions (90%), Qualitative assessment of lesion conspicuity, artefact lev el, and overall image quality by two radiologists showed conventional spin-echo was preferred to fast spin-echo, Lesion conspicuity was grad ed moderate or good in 84% of lesions on CSE compared to 73% on FSE, A rtefact level was higher on FSE in 34%, equal in 61% and higher on CSE in 5%, Overall, CSE was preferred to FSE in 76% of cases, Mean lesion to liver contrast to noise ratio was significantly higher on conventi onal spin-echo than fast spin-echo: CSE mean 5.9, FSE mean 4.9 P < 0.0 5, This difference in contrast to noise ratio remained for malignant l esions, but no significant difference was present for cysts and haeman giomas. We advise careful assessment of new sequences before conventio nal T2-weighted spin-echo is replaced by fast T2-weighted spin-echo in the detection of focal liver lesions.