Comparative study of MRI sequences to detect cavernous angiomas

We prospectively evaluated 30 patients with CNS cavernous angioma with a high field (1.5T) magnetic resonance imager. In all patients the MRI protocol included: gradient echo T1*-weighted imaging, spin echo T2*-weighted imaging and gradient echo T2*-weighted imaging. We evaluated each case for the number of lesions detected on each sequence. Gradient echo T2*-weighted imaging with a long TE (TE: 35ms) was the most sensitive sequence for the detection of cavernous angiomas allowing detection of small lesions that were not identified on the other sequences.