HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Erratum (v19,p1092) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Delfaut, E. M. Articles by Cotten, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Delfaut, E. M. Articles by Cotten, A. Related Collections Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Fat Suppression in MR Imaging: Techniques and Pitfalls

¹ Departments of Radiology (E.M.D., A.C.)
² Nuclear Medicine (J.R., X.M.), Hospital Roger Salengro, Boulevard du Professeur J. Leclercq, 59037 Lille, France
³ Department of Radiology, Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York, NY (J.B.)
⁴ Department of Radiology, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY (G.J.)

Fat suppression is commonly used in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to suppress the signal from adipose tissue or detect adipose tissue. Fat suppression can be achieved with three methods: fat saturation, inversion-recovery imaging, and opposed-phase imaging. Selection of a fat suppression technique should depend on the purpose of the fat suppression (contrast enhancement vs tissue characterization) and the amount of fat in the tissue being studied. Fat saturation is recommended for suppression of signal from large amounts of fat and reliable acquisition of contrast material–enhanced images. The main drawbacks of this technique are sensitivity to magnetic field nonuniformity, misregistration artifacts, and unreliability when used with low-field-strength magnets. Inversion-recovery imaging allows homogeneous and global fat suppression and can be used with low-field-strength magnets. However, this technique is not specific for fat, and the signal intensity of tissue with a long T1 and tissue with a short T1 may be ambiguous. Opposed-phase imaging is a fast and readily available technique. This method is recommended for demonstration of lesions that contain small amounts of fat. The main drawback of opposed-phase imaging is unreliability in the detection of small tumors embedded in fatty tissue.

Index Terms: Fat, MR, **.121415² • Magnetic resonance (MR), fat suppression, **.121415 • Magnetic resonance (MR), inversion recovery, **.121413 • Magnetic resonance (MR), phase imaging, **.121419

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. N. Costa, I. Pedrosa, C. McKenzie, S. B. Reeder, and N. M. Rofsky Body MRI Using IDEAL Am. J. Roentgenol., April 1, 2008; 190(4): 1076 - 1084. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. K. Kim, S. H. Kim, Y. J. Jang, H. Ahn, C.-S. Kim, H. Park, J. W. Lee, S. Kim, and K.-S. Cho Renal Angiomyolipoma with Minimal Fat: Differentiation from Other Neoplasms at Double-Echo Chemical Shift FLASH MR Imaging Radiology, April 1, 2006; 239(1): 174 - 180. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. R. Prasad, H. Wang, H. Rosas, C. O. Menias, V. R. Narra, W. D. Middleton, and J. P. Heiken Fat-containing Lesions of the Liver: Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation RadioGraphics, March 1, 2005; 25(2): 321 - 331. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. M. Pereira, C. B. Sirlin, P. S. Pinto, and G. Casola CT and MR Imaging of Extrahepatic Fatty Masses of the Abdomen and Pelvis: Techniques, Diagnosis, Differential Diagnosis, and Pitfalls RadioGraphics, January 1, 2005; 25(1): 69 - 85. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Aviram, J. E. Fishman, M.-L. Young, E. Redha, G. Biliciler-Denktas, and M. M. Rodriguez MR Evaluation of Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy in Pediatric Patients Am. J. Roentgenol., April 1, 2003; 180(4): 1135 - 1141. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				O. Hauger, E. Dumont, J.-F. Chateil, M. Moinard, and F. Diard Water Excitation as an Alternative to Fat Saturation in MR Imaging: Preliminary Results in Musculoskeletal Imaging Radiology, September 1, 2002; 224(3): 657 - 663. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Partik, T. Rand, M. L. Pretterklieber, M. Voracek, M. Hoermann, and T. H. Helbich Patterns of Gadopentetate-Enhanced MR Imaging of Radiocarpal Joints of Healthy Subjects Am. J. Roentgenol., July 1, 2002; 179(1): 193 - 197. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. Axel and E. M. Delfaut Fat Suppression in MR Imaging • Dr Delfaut responds: RadioGraphics, September 1, 1999; 19(5): 1177a - 1177a. [Full Text] [PDF]