MRI Evaluation of cooperative and non-cooperative patients with non-traumatic acute abdominal pain – preliminary observations

PurposeTo compare diagnostic performance of two MRI protocols, motion resistant and conventional breath-hold, in patients with acute abdominal pain.Materials and methodsThirty-five patients unable to breath-hold underwent a motion-resistant protocol (Radial group). Twenty-seven patients able to breath-hold underwent conventional protocol. The diagnostic performance of MRI was calculated. Cartesian and radial 3D-GRE sequences were compared.ResultsIn Radial group, diagnosis was correct in 31/35 patients (88.5%), with sensitivity and specificity of 85.7% and 87.5%. In Cartesian group, diagnosis was correct in 24/27 patients (88.9%), with sensitivity and specificity of 93.7% and 81.8%.ConclusionMRI appeared moderately successful for non-cooperative patients presenting with acute abdominal pain, with comparable accuracy to the standard breath-hold protocol.