Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography: Comparison between respiratory-triggered turbo spin echo and breath hold single-shot turbo spin echo sequences

The purpose of this study was to compare the relative conspicuity of the pa ncreaticobiliary tree on respiratory-triggered three-dimensional turbo spin echo (3D TSE RT) and breath hold single-shot turbo spin echo (SSTSE BH) ac quisitions respectively in MRCP imaging. Both techniques were applied to 61 patients with clinically suspected pancreaticobiliary disease using a 1.0 T MR system. All images were reviewed blindly, Qualitative comparison was m ade by grading subjectively the conspicuity of extrahepatic, intrahepatic, and main pancreatic ducts. Quantitative comparison included calculations of signal-to-noise ratio of the common bile duct, main pancreatic duct, gallb ladder, liver, and contrast-to-noise ratio, relative contrast between commo n bile duct, gallbladder, and liver. 3D TSE RT provided significantly highe r signal-to-noise ratio of the common bile duct (mean value 163.19) and mai n pancreatic duct (mean value 95.37) compared to SSTSE BH (mean values 76.2 4 and 26.22, respectively). 3D TSE RT was inferior to SSTSE BH for the depi ction of intrahepatic ducts and pancreatic duct (head portion). 3D TSE RT a nd SSTSE BH sequences provide complimentary information in the visualizatio n of the biliary and pancreatic ducts. Further comparative clinical studies are needed to redefine the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of MRCP using both sequences. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.