Comparison between high-resolution isotropic three-dimensional and high-resolution conventional two-dimensional FSE MR images of the wrist at 3 tesla: a pilot study

Purpose: To demonstrate the clinical feasibility of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) isotropic FSE MRI of the wrist by comparing it to high-resolution conventional 2D FSE (2D) MRI.

Materials and methods: Eleven healthy volunteers were enrolled. All images were obtained at 3 Tesla (T). Delineation of anatomic structures of the wrist, amount of artifact, quality of fat suppression, image blur, and overall quality were qualitatively evaluated. Relative signal intensity (SI) of each structure and relative signal contrast between structures of the wrist were quantitatively measured.

Results: The 2D MRI demonstrated significantly higher scores than 3D in anatomic delineation of the SL ligament (P = 0.013), fat suppression (P = 0.013), and image blur (P = 0.003). The remaining quantitative analyses, including overall quality, revealed no statistical significances between 2D and 3D MRI. There were no statistical differences in relative SI of each structure between 2D and 3D imaging, except for bone marrow with fat suppression. There were no significant differences in relative fluid to TFCC and fluid to bone marrow contrast between 2D and 3D imaging, suggesting that both sequences have similar rates of detection for TFCC pathology and bone marrow lesions.

Conclusion: With regard to clinical applications, 3D MRI of the wrist has almost equal potential to 2D MRI.