Visualization of carotid vessel wall and atherosclerotic plaque: T₁-SPACE vs. compressed sensing T₁-SPACE

Abstract

[Objectives]To compare visualization of carotid plaques and vessel walls between 3D T₁-fast spin echo imaging with conventional SPACE (T₁-SPACE) and with a prototype compressed sensing T₁-SPACE (CS-T₁-SPACE) [Methods]This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board. Participants comprised 43 patients (36 males, 7 females; mean age, 71 years) who underwent carotid MRI including T₁-SPACE and CS-T₁-SPACE. The quality of visualization for carotid plaques and vessel walls was evaluated using a 5-point scale, and signal intensity ratios (SRs) of the carotid plaques were measured and normalized to the adjacent sternomastoid muscle. Scores for the quality of visualization were compared between T₁-SPACE and CS-T₁-SPACE using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Statistical differences between SRs of plaques with T₁-SPACE and CS-T₁-SPACE were also evaluated using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and Spearman’s correlation coefficient was calculated to investigate correlations. [Results]Visualization scores were significantly higher for CS-T₁-SPACE than for T₁-SPACE when evaluating carotid plaques (p = 0.0212) and vessel walls (p < 0.001). The SR of plaques did not differ significantly between T₁-SPACE and CS-T₁-SPACE (p = 0.5971). Spearman’s correlation coefficient was significant (0.884; p < 0.0001). [Conclusions]CS-T₁-SPACE allowed better visualization scores and sharpness compared with T₁-SPACE in evaluating carotid plaques and vessel walls, with a 2.5-fold accelerated scan time with comparable image quality. CS-T₁-SPACE appears promising as a method for investigating carotid vessel walls, offering better image quality with a shorter acquisition time.