MRI after successful lumbar discectomy.

Our aim was to establish the normal range of MRI findings after successful lumbar discectomy. We prospectively examined 34 consecutive patients with an excellent clinical outcome by MRI 6 weeks and 6 months after surgery. All examinations included sagittal and axial spin-echo (SE) T1-weighted images before and after intravenous gadolinium-DTPA and fast SE T2-weighted images. Contrast enhancement along the surgical tract was seen in all patients 6 weeks and 6 months after surgery. After 6 months minimal or no mass effect on the dural sac by epidural scar was seen. In 20% of patients there was recurrent disc herniation, with mass effect. Enhancing nerve roots were seen in 20% of patients 6 weeks postoperatively, and half of these were associated with recurrent disc herniation at the same side. None of these patients still showed nerve root enhancement 6 months after surgery. Postoperative MRI studies must be interpreted with great care since the features described in the failed back surgery syndrome are also found, to some extent, in asymptomatic postoperative patients.

Influence of magnetic field strength on T2* decay and phase effects in gradient echo MRI of vertebral bone marrow.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was twofold: first, to quantify the influence of magnetic field strength (B0) on T2* and T2susceptibility relaxation rates in vertebral bone marrow; and second, to determine the significance of in-phase/out-of-phase phenomena in GE MRI as a function of TEs at different B0 values. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine was performed at 1.5, 1.0, and 0.2 T using a GE sequence (2D-FLASH) with variable TE. Vertebral body signal intensities were measured and plotted against TE values. These curves were used to calculate T2* decay of bone marrow at different B0 values. RESULTS: At all field strengths, we observed exponential signal decay, modulated by a cosine function, the periodicity of which was proportional to B0. The T2* values of vertebral bodies were 9.7 +/- 1.8 ms at 1.5 T, 17.2 +/- 2.4 ms at 1.0 T, and 53 +/- 5 ms at 0.2 T. True T2 relaxation time (independent of field strength) was 62 +/- 4 ms. The T2susceptibility was 11.7 ms at 1.5 T, 24.8 ms at 1.0 T, and 585 ms at 0.2 T. CONCLUSION: We conclude that at low B0, susceptibility effects become less important and T2* approaches true T2 relaxation.

Understanding chemical shift induced boundary artefacts as a function of field strength: influence of imaging parameters (bandwidth, field-of-view, and matrix size).

OBJECTIVE: To study the importance of chemical shift induced boundary artefact (CSA) at different field strengths and the implications for pulse sequence design with respect to receiver bandwidth (BW), field-of-view (FOV) and matrix size. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A fat-water phantom was examined in MR systems of different field strength (1.5 T, 1.0 T and 0.2 T), using pulse sequences with different receiver BW, FOV, and matrix size. The chemical shift was quantified by measuring the width of the bright and dark misregistration rims seen at the planar fat-water interface. The measured chemical shift was compared with the theoretically calculated chemical shift. RESULTS: Excellent correlations were found between predicted chemical shift and measurement results in our experiments. The width of the CSA (in millimetres) is directly proportional to field strength, inversely proportional to receiver BW and hence to the strength of the readout gradient, directly proportional to FOV, and inversely proportional to matrix size. CONCLUSION: CSA occurs at all magnetic field strengths, but given a certain BW it is more pronounced at higher fields. Although the CSA in Hz is directly proportional to field strength, the visible CSA at low-field was slightly higher than theoretically expected. The relative lack of CSA in low-field strength images permits the application of narrow receiver BW sequences, resulting in increased signal to noise ratio.

Quantification of UV-induced erythema with a portable computer controlled chromameter.

A sensitive computer controlled tristimulus color analyzer (Minolta Chromameter II Reflectance) was used to measure UV-induced erythema quantitatively. Of the 5 available chromaticity measuring modes in the instrument, one of the values (a*) was enough to specify the erythema quickly. A comparison has been made between results using the instrument and a graded score based on visual perception of erythema. This easy to operate instrument is suitable for both clinical and field conditions.