CS-VIBE accelerates cranial nerve MR imaging for the diagnosis of facial neuritis: comparison of the diagnostic performance of post-contrast MPRAGE and CS-VIBE

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of post-contrast 3D compressed sensing volume-interpolated breath-hold examination (CS-VIBE) and 3D T1 magnetization-prepared rapid-acquisition gradient-echo (MPRAGE) in detecting facial neuritis.

Materials and methods: Between February 2019 and September 2019, 60 patients (30 facial palsy patients and 30 controls) who underwent contrast-enhanced cranial nerve MRI with both conventional MPRAGE and CS-VIBE (scan time: 6 min 8 s vs. 2 min 48 s) were included in this retrospective study. All images were independently reviewed by three radiologists for the presence of facial neuritis. In patients with facial palsy, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the pons, enhancement degree and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR_nerve-CSF) of the facial nerve were measured. The overall image quality, artifacts, and facial nerve discrimination were analyzed. The sensitivity and specificity of both sequences were calculated with the clinical diagnosis as a reference.

Results: CS-VIBE had comparable performance in the detection of facial neuritis to that of MPRAGE (sensitivity and specificity, 97.8% and 99.4% vs. 100.0% and 99.4% in pooled analysis; 97.8% and 98.9% vs. 100.0% and 98.9% in patents with facial palsy, p value > 0.05 for all). CS-VIBE showed significantly lower SNR (p value < 0.001 for all), but significantly higher CNR_nerve-CSF (p value < 0.05 for all) than MPRAGE. CS-VIBE also performed better in the overall image quality, artifacts, and facial nerve discrimination than MPRAGE (p value < 0.001 for all).

Conclusion: CS-VIBE achieved comparable diagnostic performance for facial neuritis compared to the conventional MPRAGE, with the scan time being half of that of MPRAGE.

Key points: • Post-contrast 3D CS-VIBE MRI is a reliable method for the diagnosis of facial neuritis. • CS-VIBE reduces the scan time of cranial nerve MRI by more than half compared to conventional T1-weighted image. • CS-VIBE had better performance in contrast-to-noise ratio and favorable image quality compared with conventional T1-weighted image.

Keywords: Cranial nerve; Facial neuritis; Magnetic resonance imaging.