Enhanced Myocardial Tissue Visualization: A Comparative Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Study of Gradient-Spin Echo-STIR and Conventional STIR Imaging

Abstract

Purpose. This study is aimed at evaluating the efficacy of the gradient-spin echo- (GraSE-) based short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequence (GraSE-STIR) in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging compared to the conventional turbo spin echo- (TSE-) based STIR sequence, specifically focusing on image quality, specific absorption rate (SAR), and image acquisition time. Methods. In a prospective study, we examined forty-four normal volunteers and seventeen patients referred for CMR imaging using conventional STIR and GraSE-STIR techniques. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), image quality, $T_2$ signal intensity (SI) ratio, SAR, and image acquisition time were compared between both sequences. Results. GraSE-STIR showed significant improvements in image quality ($4.15\pm 0.8$ vs. $3.34\pm 0.9$, $p=0.024$) and cardiac motion artifact reduction (7 vs. 18 out of 53, $p=0.038$) compared to conventional STIR. Furthermore, the acquisition time ($27.17\pm 3.53$ vs. $36.9\pm 4.08$ seconds, $p=0.041$) and the local torso SAR (<13% vs. <17%, $p=0.047$) were significantly lower for GraSE-STIR compared to conventional STIR in short-axis plan. However, no significant differences were shown in $T_2$ SI ratio ($p=0.141$), SNR ($p=0.093$), CNR ($p=0.068$), and SAR ($p=0.071$) between these two sequences. Conclusions. GraSE-STIR offers notable advantages over conventional STIR sequence, with improved image quality, reduced motion artifacts, and shorter acquisition times. These findings highlight the potential of GraSE-STIR as a valuable technique for routine clinical CMR imaging.