MRI of the neck at 3 Tesla using the periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER) (BLADE) sequence compared with T2-weighted fast spin-echo sequence.

PURPOSE To evaluate motion artifacts, tissue contrasts, and lesion detectability in the neck with the periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER) (BLADE) technique. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 46 patients referred for MRI of the neck were included in a comparison of T2-weighted BLADE (T2W-BLADE) sequence and T2W fast spin-echo (T2W-FSE) sequence. All examinations were performed at 3T using the same parameters. Two observers evaluated unlabelled images for motion artifacts, the preferred image quality, and lesion detectability. Region of interest (ROI)-based quantitative measurements were performed to assess tissue contrasts. The frequency of occurrence of the different assessed artifacts and the lesion detectability was tested using McNemar's test. Tissue contrasts were compared using the Wilcoxon paired test. Reader agreement was assessed using kappa test. RESULTS T2W-BLADE showed less ghosting and pulsation artifacts than T2W-FSE (P < 0.01). T2W-BLADE images were rated as better than or equal to T2W-FSE images in majority cases (93.5%; kappa = 0.64). There was not significant difference in tissue contrasts between T2W-BLADE and T2W-FSE. A total of 32 lesions were present in 32 patients and equally well seen on T2W-BLADE and T2W-FSE. CONCLUSION T2W-BLADE can reduce motion artifacts and provide tissue contrasts and lesion detectability equivalent to T2W-FSE.