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

ObjectivesTo 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)MethodsThis retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board. Participants comprised 43 patients (36 males, 7 females; mean age, 71years) 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.ResultsVisualization 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).ConclusionsCS-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.Key Points center dot CS-T1-SPACE allowed better visualization compared with T1-SPACE in evaluating carotid plaques and vessel walls, with a 2.5-fold accelerated scan time with comparable image quality.center dot CS-T1-SPACE offers a promising method for investigating carotid vessel walls due to the better image quality with shorter acquisition time.center dot Physiological movements such as swallowing, arterial pulsations, and breathing induce motion artifacts in vessel wall imaging, and a shorter acquisition time can reduce artifacts from physiological movements.