Evaluation of dural sinus invasion and extension of extra-axial intracranial tumors. The advantages of a high-resolution postcontrast 3-D gradient-echo technique

Objective. To assess the usefulness of a postcontrast 3-D Fourier transform (3DFT) gradient-echo (GRE) technique in dural sinus invasion and extension of extraaxial intracranial tumors in comparison with a conventional spin-e cho (SE) technique. Material and Methods.. Fourteen consecutive patients with 15 extra-axial tu mors in contiguity with the dural sinus, including 14 meningiomas and 1 ade noid cystic carcinoma, underwent postcontrast T1-weighted SE and GRE MR stu dies. Detectability of dural sinus invasion and extension was evaluated usi ng two sequences by two neuroradiologists in a blinded manner and compared with surgical results. Quantitative analysis was also performed to calculat e the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) between lesion and dural sinus on SE an d GRE images. The data were analyzed statistically using a matched paired t -test. Results: In the qualitative evaluation, the detectability of dural sinus in vasion in 3DFT-GRE images was superior to that using SE images. The mean CN R for all lesions was 3.86 on SE images and 5.63 on 3DFT-GRE images (p=0.03 ). Conclusion: For evaluation of dural sinus invasion and the extension of ext raaxial tumors, postcontrast 3DFT-GRE MR images were superior to convention al SE images.