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Abstract

Background:

The infratentorial compartment is cardinal for multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis. T2-weighted (T2) and proton density–weighted (PD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can visualize infratentorial lesions, but only suboptimally.

Objective:

To combine PD and T2 for better lesion assessment.

Methods:

T2 and PD from 35 cases were averaged to form “PT2” images. Two raters counted infratentorial lesions and qualitatively assessed their conspicuity.

Results:

PT2 showed 244 infratentorial lesions, of which 94% and 74% were seen in PD and T2. PT2 received higher grades for image quality and lesion conspicuity (p < 0.001 for all comparisons).

Conclusion:

PT2 could improve our ability to diagnose and monitor MS.

Keywords

Multiple sclerosis MRI infratentorial brain T2 lesions

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Optimal detection of infratentorial lesions with a combined dual-echo MRI sequence: “PT2”