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Purpose. This study is aimed at evaluating the efficacy of the gradient-spin echo- (GraSE-) based short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequence (GraSE-STIR) in cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging compared to the conventional turbo spin echo- (TSE-) based STIR sequence, specifically focusing on image quality, specific absorption rate (SAR), and image acquisition time. Methods. In a prospective study, we examined forty-four normal volunteers and seventeen patients referred for CMR imaging using conventional STIR and GraSE-STIR techniques. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), image quality, T2 signal intensity (SI) ratio, SAR, and image acquisition time were compared between both sequences. Results. GraSE-STIR showed significant improvements in image quality ( 4.15±0.8 vs. 3.34±0.9 , p=0.024 ) and cardiac motion artifact reduction (7 vs. 18 out of 53, p=0.038 ) compared to conventional STIR. Furthermore, the acquisition time ( 27.17±3.53 vs. 36.9±4.08 seconds, p=0.041 ) and the local torso SAR (p=0.047 ) were significantly lower for GraSE-STIR compared to conventional STIR in short-axis plan. However, no significant differences were shown in T2 SI ratio ( p=0.141 ), SNR ( p=0.093 ), CNR ( p=0.068 ), and SAR ( p=0.071 ) between these two sequences. Conclusions. GraSE-STIR offers notable advantages over conventional STIR sequence, with improved image quality, reduced motion artifacts, and shorter acquisition times. These findings highlight the potential of GraSE-STIR as a valuable technique for routine clinical CMR imaging.
Dehghani et al. (Mon,) studied this question.