Contrast optimization for the detection of focal hepatic lesions by MR imaging at 1.5 T.

The relative efficacies of different spin-echo pulse sequences at 1.5 T were evaluated in the detection of focal hepatic disease. Pulse sequences compared were spin-echo with a repetition time (TR) of 200 msec and echo time (TE) of 20 msec, with six excitations; TR = 300 msec, TE = 20 msec, with 16 excitations (T1-weighted sequences); and a double spin-echo with TR = 2500 and TE = 25 and 70, with two excitations (proton-density-weighted and T2-weighted pulse sequences, respectively). Respiratory-motion compensation, which involved a recording of the phase-encoding gradients (Exorcist), was used for the last two sequences. Spin-echo with TR = 2500 msec and TE = 70 msec was superior in lesion detection and contrast-to-noise ratio. The proton-density-weighted and T2-weighted sequences with respiratory compensation produced better artifact suppression than did the short TR, short TE T1-weighted sequence with temporal averaging. In contradistinction to prior results at 0.6 T, T2-weighted pulse sequences appear superior to T1-weighted pulse sequences with multiple excitations for both lesion detection and artifact suppression at 1.5 T.