MR imaging of cervical spine motion with haste

The HASTE (half-Fourier acquisition single-shot turbo spin-echo) technique delivers images with T2-weighting in about half a second and could be ideal for fast dynamic studies when T2-weighting is needed, We evaluated cardiac-triggered HASTE to study cervical spine flexion/extension, The cervical spines of ten asymptomatic volunteers were studied during flexion/extension motion on a 1.5 Tesla imager using a cardiac triggered version of the HASTE technique. Midline sagittal images were acquired every 2 to 3 s during neck flexion and extension. Image quality was compared to traditional T2-weighted Turbo spin-echo. The study duration per flexion/extension was typically less than 20 seconds and well tolerated. The cardiac-gated T2-weighted HASTE images compared favorably to the traditional T2-weighted TSE images in quality and overall anatomic detail. Range of motion averaged: flexion 30 degrees (range 8 degrees-48 degrees) and extension 23 degrees (range 0 degrees-57 degrees), Greatest motion occurred in the lower cervical spine (C4-C7), At the intervertebral discs the canal diameter, anterior and posterior CSF spaces were widest in neutral position and decreased with flexion and extension. Therefore, Cardiac-gated T2 HASTE sequences provide diagnostic and time-efficient dynamic MR images of cervical spine motion, (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc.