RESUMEN
Objective To explore the feasibility of the Star-VIBE sequence in esophageal MRI,and compare it with the conventional VIBE sequence.Methods Fifteen healthy volunteers underwent Star-VIBE and VIBE sequences scanning after injecting MRI contrast agent.Two groups of MR images were independently scored in the ability to display esophageal wall,respiratory motion artifacts,cardiovascular pulsation artifacts,overall motion artifacts and overall image quality by the two radiologists,respectively.SNR of esophagus,CNR between esophagus and paravertebral muscles were measured and compared.Results Star-VIBE was superior to VIBE in the ability to display esophageal wall,respiratory motion artifacts,cardiovascular pulsation artifacts,overall motion artifacts and overall image quality (the ability to display esophageal wall:Z＝－3.268,P＝0.001;respiratory motion artifacts:Z＝－3.205,P＝0.001;cardiovascular pulsation artifacts:Z＝－4.644, P＝0.000;overall motion artifacts:Z＝－3.904,P＝0.000;overall image quality:Z＝－2.808,P＝0.005),while no significant differences were found on SNR and CNR between the two sequences (SNR:t＝－1.5 3 9 ,P＝0.1 3 5 ;CNR:t＝－0.874,P＝0.3 89 ).Conclusion The Star-VIBE sequence is insensitive to the physiological motion artifacts,and it can provide better image quality than the conventional VIBE sequence in esophageal MRI.