• Hiroyoshi Isoda, Masako Kataoka, Yoji Maetani, Aki Kido, Shigeaki Umeoka, Ken Tamai, Takashi Koyama, Yuji Nakamoto, Yukio Miki, Tsuneo Saga, and Kaori Togashi.
• Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, 54 Kawahara-cho, Shogoin, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. sayuki@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2007 May 1; 25 (5): 1000-6.

PurposeTo evaluate the impact of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) imaging at 1.5T and 3.0T on image quality.Materials And MethodsFourteen volunteers were examined at both 1.5T and 3.0T using MRCP imaging performed with a breath-held two-dimensional (2D) half-Fourier acquired single-shot turbo spin-echo (HASTE) thick-slab sequence, a free-breathing navigator-triggered three-dimensional (3D) turbo spin-echo (TSE) sequence with prospective acquisition correction, and a heavily T2-weighted (T2W) sequence with breath-held multislice HASTE. All images were scored for visualization of the biliary and pancreatic ducts, severity of artifacts, image noise, and overall image quality.ResultsMRCP imaging at 3.0T yielded a significant improvement in overall image quality compared to 1.5T. We found a trend for superior visualization of the biliary and pancreatic ducts at 3.0T. Heavily T2W imaging with thin sections (1.4 mm) at 3.0T provided diagnostic images and better visualization of the biliary and pancreatic ducts than heavily T2W imaging with standard sections (2.8 mm) at 3.0T.ConclusionOur experience suggests that MRCP imaging at 3.0T has the potential to provide excellent images. High-resolution heavily T2W imaging with a small voxel size (1.3 x 1.3 x 1.4 mm) at 3.0T can provide diagnostic images and allow evaluation of small pathologies of the bile and pancreatic ducts, which 1.5T MRI cannot sufficiently visualize.(c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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