TY - JOUR
T1 - Simultaneous visualization of nerves and vessels of the lower extremities using magnetization-prepared susceptibility weighted magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0 T
AU - Zhang, Zhongwei
AU - Meng, Quanfei
AU - Li, Ziping
AU - Pan, Bitao
AU - Regatte, Ravinder R.
AU - Schweitzer, Mark E.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30872625). The authors have no personal financial or institutional interest in any of the drugs, materials, or devices described in this article.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2011 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - BACKGROUND: Identifying the extent of involvement of the vessel and nerve, particularly in regard to preoperative evaluation and precise localization of the tumor and its relation to the structures of the extremities, has important applications for advancing the treatment of lower extremity diseases. OBJECTIVE: To review the technical feasibility of simultaneous visualization of nerves and vessels of the lower extremities by using magnetization-prepared susceptibilityweighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MP-SWI) at 3.0T. METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers and 10 patients were studied. Optimized MP-SWI, MR neurography (MRN) based on 3D diffusion-weighted steady-state free precession imaging and contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) sequences were performed for each subject. The means of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)n, SNRv, SNRm, contrastto- noise ratio (CNR)n,m and CNRv,m were calculated and the certainty of identifying nerves and vessels was determined. CNRn,m between MP-SWI and MRN, and CNRv,m between MP-SWI and CE-MRA were compared. RESULTS: MP-SWI provides slightly poorer CNRv,m than CE-MRA, whereas MP-SWI provides a better CNRn,m than MRN. In thin-slice-thickness maximum-intensity projection arbitrary planes, the sciatic nerve and its branches were clearly identified (score 1 or 2 of 2) in 17 subjects (85%); the femoral artery and the main branches were identified (score 1 or 2 of 2) in all 20 subjects (100%). The nerves are isointense to slightly hypointense to muscle, and the vessels show a more obvious hyperintense signal than muscle in MP-SWI. CONCLUSION: The proposed MP-SWI demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneously visualizing nerves and vessels of the lower extremities without using an exogenous contrast agent. It may enable straightforward localization of a disease process to a specific nerve and vessel.
AB - BACKGROUND: Identifying the extent of involvement of the vessel and nerve, particularly in regard to preoperative evaluation and precise localization of the tumor and its relation to the structures of the extremities, has important applications for advancing the treatment of lower extremity diseases. OBJECTIVE: To review the technical feasibility of simultaneous visualization of nerves and vessels of the lower extremities by using magnetization-prepared susceptibilityweighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MP-SWI) at 3.0T. METHODS: Ten healthy volunteers and 10 patients were studied. Optimized MP-SWI, MR neurography (MRN) based on 3D diffusion-weighted steady-state free precession imaging and contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) sequences were performed for each subject. The means of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)n, SNRv, SNRm, contrastto- noise ratio (CNR)n,m and CNRv,m were calculated and the certainty of identifying nerves and vessels was determined. CNRn,m between MP-SWI and MRN, and CNRv,m between MP-SWI and CE-MRA were compared. RESULTS: MP-SWI provides slightly poorer CNRv,m than CE-MRA, whereas MP-SWI provides a better CNRn,m than MRN. In thin-slice-thickness maximum-intensity projection arbitrary planes, the sciatic nerve and its branches were clearly identified (score 1 or 2 of 2) in 17 subjects (85%); the femoral artery and the main branches were identified (score 1 or 2 of 2) in all 20 subjects (100%). The nerves are isointense to slightly hypointense to muscle, and the vessels show a more obvious hyperintense signal than muscle in MP-SWI. CONCLUSION: The proposed MP-SWI demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneously visualizing nerves and vessels of the lower extremities without using an exogenous contrast agent. It may enable straightforward localization of a disease process to a specific nerve and vessel.
KW - Fat suppression
KW - MR neurography
KW - Peripheral nerve
KW - Susceptibility-weighted imaging
KW - Vessel
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84868608506&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1227/NEU.0b013e31822da57f
DO - 10.1227/NEU.0b013e31822da57f
M3 - Article
C2 - 21768913
AN - SCOPUS:84868608506
VL - 70
SP - 1
EP - 7
JO - Operative Neurosurgery
JF - Operative Neurosurgery
SN - 2332-4252
IS - 1
ER -