• K Tsuchiya, Y Mizutani, and J Hachiya.
• Department of Radiology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
• AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 1996 Jun 1; 17 (6): 1081-6.

PurposeTo report our preliminary results in the application of a turbo fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery (FLAIR) MR technique to the diagnosis of intracranial tumors and to assess the clinical usefulness of this technique.MethodsThirty-four patients with various intracranial tumors were studies with MR imaging, including a turbo FLAIR sequence. FLAIR images were compared with images obtained with conventional spin-echo sequences.ResultsExcept for 2 lesions in 1 patients, tumor signal intensities on FLAIR images were consistent with those shown on T2-weighted spin-echo images. FLAIR images showed peritumoral edema more clearly than T2-Weighted and proton density-weighted images when the tumor itself was not hyperintense. In 8 of 23 patients in whom edema was associated with tumor, FLAIR images provided better definition between edema and tumor than did T2-weighted and proton density-weighted images. In 5 patients, FLAIR images depicted different signal intensity between cerebrospinal fluid and a cystic or necrotic component. In 20 of 22 patients, postcontrast FLAIR images showed contrast enhancement comparable to that seen on postcontrast T1-weighted images.ConclusionTurbo FLAIR images can supplement conventional spin-echo images in the diagnosis of intracranial tumors.

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