A Sprinkart

Revised PROPELLER for T2-weighted imaging of the prostate at 3 Tesla: impact on lesion detection and PI-RADS classification

PurposeTo evaluate revised PROPELLER (RevPROP) for T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) of the prostate as a substitute for turbo spin echo (TSE).Materials and methodsThree-Tesla MR images of 50 patients with 55 cancer-suspicious lesions were prospectively evaluated. Findings were correlated with histopathology after MRI-guided biopsy. T2 RevPROP, T2 TSE, diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast enhancement, and MR-spectroscopy were acquired. RevPROP was compared to TSE concerning PI-RADS scores, lesion size, lesion signal-intensity, lesion contrast, artefacts, and image quality.ResultsThere were 41 carcinomas in 55 cancer-suspicious lesions. RevPROP detected 41 of 41 carcinomas (100%) and 54 of 55 lesions (98.2%). TSE detected 39 of 41 carcinomas (95.1%) and 51 of 55 lesions (92.7%). RevPROP showed fewer artefacts and higher image quality (each p < 0.001). No differences were observed between single and overall PI-RADS scores based on RevPROP or TSE (p = 0.106 and p = 0.107). Lesion size was not different (p = 0.105). T2-signal intensity of lesions was higher and T2-contrast of lesions was lower on RevPROP (each p < 0.001).ConclusionFor prostate cancer detection RevPROP is superior to TSE with respect to motion robustness, image quality and detection rates of lesions. Therefore, RevPROP might be used as a substitute for T2WI.Key points• Revised PROPELLER can be used as a substitute for T2-weighted prostate imaging.• Revised PROPELLER detected more carcinomas and more suspicious lesions than TSE.• Revised PROPELLER showed fewer artefacts and better image quality compared to TSE.• There were no significant differences in PI-RADS scores between revised PROPELLER and TSE.• The lower T2-contrast of revised PROPELLER did not impair its diagnostic quality.

Epicardial adipose tissue, aortic stiffness and myocardial fibrosis in healthy individuals: a quantitative cardiac magnetic resonance study

Background Epicardial adipose tissue, aortic stiffness and myocardial fibrosis have been linked to cardiovascular risk and disease; however, often different modalities are used for their measurement. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) may be used to determine these parameters in a single examination by the measurement of epicardial fat volumes (EFV), aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) as a parameter of aortic stiffness, and T1-relaxation time (T1) as a marker for myocardial fibrosis. This quantitative CMR-study was performed to identify relationships between these parameters in healthy individuals and to correlate them with age, body mass index (BMI) and gender.