MRI in neurofibromatosis type I: using fluid-attenuated inversion recovery pulse sequences.

Cranial magnetic resonance imaging results of 14 patients with neurofibromatosis type I were examined with T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery pulse sequences, as well as conventional T2-weighted spin-echo sequences. Definition was better in 62 of 79 lesions or groups of lesions on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images than on T2-weighted spin-echo images. The lesions were demonstrated not only in the brainstem, cerebellum, globus pallidus, and cerebral white matter, but also in the hippocampus, pulvinar thalami, and splenium of the corpus callosum. The latter 3 lesions have not been demonstrated or emphasized in previous studies. It is concluded that fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging is more effective in detecting multiple lesions in patients with neurofibromatosis type I than conventional T2-weighted spin-echo imaging.