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A comparative evaluation of a RARE-based single-shot pulse sequence for diffusion-weighted MRI of musculoskeletal soft-tissue tumors

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a centric-reordered modified rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (mRARE) sequence for single-shot diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) of soft-tissue tumors in the musculoskeletal system. In the evaluation of this sequence, DWI was performed in a liquid phantom, in excised human tumor samples embedded in bovine muscle, and in nine patients suffering from different types of soft-tissue tumors. The measurements were compared to DWI using a spin-echo sequence and a single-shot echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence. The phantom measurements in water and dimethyl sulfoxide showed a difference of less than 5% when comparing the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) determined by the mRARE sequence and the two other techniques. Comparing mRARE and EPI, the differences in the ADCs were about 10% in the excised tumor tissue and, typically, about 15% in vivo. ADCs between 0.8×10−3 mm2/s and 1.4×10−3 mm2/s, depending on the tumor type, were found in solid tumor tissue; in cystic tumor areas, ADCs greater than 2.0×10−3 mm2/s were determined with the mRARE and the EPI sequences. Diffusion-weighted images of the mRARE sequence were less distorted than those acquired with the single-shot EPI sequence, and provided more anatomic information, since the muscle and fat signals were considerably higher.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), grant nos. BA 2089/1-1 and BA 2089/1-3.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Radiology—Großhadern, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Marchioninistrasse 15, 81377, Munich, Germany

    Olaf Dietrich, José G. Raya, Julia Sommer, Maximilian F. Reiser & Andrea Baur-Melnyk

  2. Siemens Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany

    Michael Deimling

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  1. Olaf Dietrich
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  2. José G. Raya
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  3. Julia Sommer
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Correspondence to Olaf Dietrich.

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Dietrich, O., Raya, J.G., Sommer, J. et al. A comparative evaluation of a RARE-based single-shot pulse sequence for diffusion-weighted MRI of musculoskeletal soft-tissue tumors. Eur Radiol 15, 772–783 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-004-2619-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-004-2619-3

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