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A comparison of MR cholangiopancreatography at 1.5 and 3.0 Tesla

Imaging Sciences Department (Clinical Sciences Centre), Hammersmith Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Du Cane Road, London W12 0HS, UK

View larger version (79K): [in a new window]   Figure 1. Examples are shown for two patients of the thick slab turbo spin echo sequence. The upper images were acquired at 3.0 Tesla and the lower images at 1.5 Tesla. (a) Improved contrast of the biliary tree relative to background noise at 3.0 Tesla. There is also clearer delineation of the pancreatic duct (arrowheads). (b) Improved continuity in the visualization of the pancreatic duct at 3.0 Tesla (arrowheads), and of the segmental ducts (arrows).

View larger version (123K): [in a new window]   Figure 2. Examples are shown for two patients of the axial half Fourier segmented turbo spin echo (HASTE) sequence. The upper images were acquired at 3.0 Tesla and the lower images at 1.5 Tesla. (a) Some improvement of contrast between fluid in the common bile duct (arrowhead) and surrounding liver at 3.0 Tesla. A slight reduction in contrast between liver and spleen at higher field strength is due to prolongation of T1 relaxation times. (b) Good visualization of the intrahepatic and pancreatic ducts on both systems, with similar appearances of the signal void created by the gall bladder calculus (arrowheads). The images at 3.0 Tesla are not appreciably affected by the presence of susceptibility or chemical shift artefacts.