Comparison of high-resolution T1W 3D GRE (LAVA) with 2-point Dixon fat/water separation (FLEX) to T1W fast spin echo (FSE) in prostate cancer (PCa)

PurposeTo compare T1-weighted (T1W) fast spin echo (FSE) to T1W 3-dimensional gradient recalled echo (LAVA) with fat water separation (FLEX) in prostate cancer (PCa).MethodologyWith institutional review board waiver, 39 patients underwent 3-T magnetic resonance imaging including T1W LAVA FLEX (157 s)/T1W FSE (316 s). Two radiologists assessed (a) image quality/sharpness, (b) presence/severity of artifacts, and (c) skeletal (N= 22)/nodal (N= 9) metastases. Results were compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank test/receiver operator characteristic analysis.ResultsWith T1W LAVA FLEX, image quality/sharpness improved (P< .001) with less motion (P= .002–.03) and no difference in phase-encoding artifact (P> .05). One patient had moderate fat/water swap.Detection of skeletal metastases was unchanged (P> .05) and nodal metastases either improved (P= .002) or were comparable (P= .16) using T1W LAVA FLEX.ConclusionT1W LAVA FLEX improves image quality, lessens motion artifact, and is comparable or improves detection of metastases in PCa with reduction in acquisition time.