Table 4.
Standard MRI brain and spine protocols
| Types of brain and spine MRI | Protocols |
|---|---|
| MRI brain (under 2 years old) | Axial and coronal dual echo STIR |
| Coronal and sagittal T1-W spin-echo | |
| DWI in three planes and calculated ADC map | |
| Axial “susceptibility-weighted” GE sequencea | |
| MRI brain (over 2 years old) | Axial T2-W fast spin-echo |
| Coronal FLAIR | |
| Coronal and sagittal T1-W spin-echo | |
| DWI in three planes and calculated ADC map | |
| Axial “susceptibility-weighted” GE sequencea | |
| MRI brain with contrast enhancement (under 2 years old) | Axial and coronal dual-echo STIR |
| Coronal T1-W spin-echo | |
| DWI in three planes and calculated ADC map | |
| Contrast-enhanced axial, coronal and sagittal T1-W spin-echo with magnetization transfer | |
| Axial “susceptibility-weighted” GE sequencea | |
| MRI brain with contrast enhancement (over 2 years old) | Axial T2-W fast spin-echo |
| Coronal FLAIR | |
| Coronal T1-W spin-echo | |
| DWI in three planes and calculated ADC map | |
| Contrast-enhanced axial, coronal and sagittal T1-W spin-echo with magnetization transfer | |
| Axial “susceptibility-weighted” GE sequencea | |
| MRI spine | Sagittal T1-W and T2-W fast spin-echo |
| Axial T1-W and T2-W fast spin-echo through target area and conus | |
| (Coronal T1-W spin-echo for scoliosis, if patient compliant) | |
| MRI spine with contrast enhancement | Sagittal T1-W and T2-W fast spin-echo |
| Contrast-enhanced sagittal T1-W fast spin-echo | |
| Axial T1-W spin-echo through target area |
aOptional sequence