General Spine

Lubdha, M, Shah, MD
Nicholas, Lazzaro, MD, Non ASSR Member
Richard, H, Wiggins, MD, Non ASSR Member
Ulrich, Rassner, MD, Non ASSR Member
Edward, Quigley, MD, PhD, Non ASSR Member

Paper/Non-Mentor

Purpose

To introduce a novel application of the real-time balanced steady state free precession (bSSFP) imaging for the evaluation of cervical spinal stenosis.

Methods & Materials

At our institution we have added bSSFP sequences to the degenerative cervical spine protocol (sagittal T1, T2, STIR and axial T2). The bSSFP parameters are as follows: field of view 280, phase anterior to posterior, phase 100, 10 mm slice, TR / TE 143.63 / 1.18, bandwidth 1395, temporal resolution 2 seconds, imaging time 2 minutes. All scans are performed on 1.5T or 3.0T MRI scanners with multi-channel head and neck coil. The patient is instructed to repeatedly flex and extend his/her head in a slow steady manner.

Results

Preliminary results suggest that the bSSFP images are vital in accurately demonstrating motion induced narrowing of the cervical spine in addition to statically visualized degenerative factors traditionally imaged (e.g. disc osteophyte complexes, ligamentum flavum redundancy, facet arthropathy). These sequences are supplementary to conventional MR sequences.

Conclusion

Static conventional MRI sequences can be suboptimal in demonstrating the positional causes of cervical spinal stenosis. This new application of bSSFP imaging reveals the dynamic factors previously unseen by utilizing currently available MRI scanners and software.

References/Financial Disclosures

No disclosures