Abstract #3623

Horwich P, McKenzie C, Hochman M, Sacchetti D, Rofsky N, Reeder S

This work examines the conspicuity of edema in soft tissues and bone marrow using short tau inversion recovery (STIR), T2 weighted imaging with chemically selective fat saturation (T2WI-FS), and Iterative Decomposition of water and fat with Echo Asymmetry and Least-squares estimation (IDEAL) imaging at 3.0T. Replacing STIR imaging with T2WI-FS, or water-only IDEAL images, has the potential to decrease scanning time and improve homogeneity of fat suppression. Images were acquired in 10 patients, referred for routine knee MR, and analyzed. IDEAL imaging scored highest for homogeneous fat suppression while STIR scored highest for overall edema conspicuity.