Better continuity of the facial nerve demonstrated in the temporal bone on three‐dimensional T1‐weighted imaging with volume isotropic turbo spin echo acquisition than that with fast field echo at 3.0 tesla MRI

Abstract

Introduction Three‐dimensional (3D) T1‐weighted imaging (T1WI) is used for evaluation of the facial nerve. The signal intensity of normal and pathological facial nerves has been well evaluated at both 1.5T and 3.0T MRI after gadolinium (Gd)‐enhancement with various pulse sequences. However, the continuity of the facial nerve has not been evaluated on 3D‐T1WI. This study aims to compare the continuity of the normal facial nerve in the temporal bone demonstrated on T1‐weighted volume isotropic turbo spin echo acquisition (T1‐VISTA), which is a spin‐echo sequence, to that on T1‐weighted fast field echo (T1‐FFE), which is a gradient‐echo sequence, at 3.0T MRI. Methods Forty‐four normal facial nerves in 22 healthy volunteers were imaged with both sequences using 3.0T MRI without Gd‐enhancement. The facial nerves were evaluated visually by two neuroradiologists in four anatomical segments with a 3‐point grading system of continuity. The continuity was assessed by summing the grades of the four segments as a total score. The grades at each segment and the total scores were compared statistically between the T1‐VISTA and T1‐FFE. Results The grades in all segments and the total score were significantly higher with T1‐VISTA than those with T1‐FFE. Conclusions T1‐VISTA was superior to demonstrate the facial nerve as a continuous anatomical structure in the temporal bone at 3.0T MRI.

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