Patients breathe easy with bile duct MRI

Free-breathing 3D MR sequences using the prospective acquisition correction with navigator echoes (PACE) technique can successfully image patients with biliary and/or pancreatic diseases, according to a study presented at the 2004 RSNA meeting.

Dr. Eric de Kerviler and colleagues at St. Louis University Hospital compared traditional breath-hold MR cholangiography techniques-the half-Fourier acquired single-shot turbo spin-echo and rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement sequences-with 3D turbo spin-echo MR sequences using the PACE technique.

The 3D free-breathing sequence illustrated distal bile ducts and pancreatic ducts better than both breath-hold sequences. The 3D technique, however, takes longer to perform, as a repeated sequence in the orthogonal plane is needed for coverage of the entire biliary tree and main pancreatic duct.