Can a fast T2-Dixon sequence surpass the time obstacle of whole-body MRI in the evaluation of skeletal metastases?

Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) has shown its accuracy in the diagnosis of skeletal metastases in patients with known primary solid cancers. The standard protocol was a combination of T1 and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequences. Herein, this study was conducted to elucidate the role of the T2-Dixon sequence as a rapid alternative to the standard protocol with the assessment of its diagnostic accuracy and comparability to the established methodology.

This prospective study included 30 patients with primary solid malignancies who underwent WB-MRI. The sequences obtained were T1WI, STIR, and T2-Dixon (fat-only and water-only images). Skeletal metastases were evaluated in each sequence. Results were compared between the T1-STIR combination and T2-Dixon fat and water reconstructions.

The sensitivity of fat and water reconstructions from a single T2-Dixon in the detection of lytic skeletal metastases was marginally superior to a combination of T1WI and STIR sequences (0–7%). Detection of mixed lesions demonstrated equally high sensitivity in both protocols. Sclerotic metastases detection in WB-MRI showed low sensitivity in both protocols. However, specificity surpassed 95% for all lesion types in both protocols. Overall image quality was favored (in 87–90% of patients) in T2-Dixon images. The overall estimated acquisition timing using T2-Dixon appeared to be approximately half that of the standard T1-STIR combination.

WB-MRI using T2-Dixon fat and water reconstructions showed similar accuracy to T1WI and STIR combination in the evaluation of skeletal metastases in patients with primary solid cancers with significantly shorter acquisition time.