2022/02/15 by Sung Jun Ahn, Toshiaki Taoka, Won‐Jin Moon +1 · 2 citations
Medicine · Neuroscience · #Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications #Cerebrospinal fluid and hydrocephalus #Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances
paper · doi:10.1002/jmri.28117
openalex publication_date 2022/02/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
While contrast-enhanced fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) has long been regarded as an adjunct sequence to evaluate leptomeningeal disease in addition to contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging, it is gradually being used for more diverse pathologies beyond leptomeningeal disease. Contrast-enhanced FLAIR is known to be highly sensitive to low concentrations of gadolinium within the fluid. Accordingly, recent research has suggested the potential utility of contrast-enhanced FLAIR in various kinds of disease, such as Meniere's disease, seizure, stroke, traumatic brain injury, and brain metastasis, in addition to being used for visualizing glymphatic dysfunction. However, its potential applications have been reported sporadically in an unorganized manner. Furthermore, the exact mechanism for its superior sensitivity to low concentrations of gadolinium has not been fully understood. Rapidly developing magnetic resonance technology and unoptimized parameters for FLAIR may challenge its accurate application in clinical practice. This review provides the fundamental mechanism of contrast-enhanced FLAIR, systematically describes its current and potential clinical application, and elaborates on technical considerations for its optimization. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 5.