Our purpose was to evaluate the role of magnetization transfer and image
subtraction in detecting more enhancing lesions in brain MR imaging of
patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Thirty-one MS patients underwent
MR imaging of the brain with T1-weighted spin echo sequences without and
with magnetization transfer (MT) using a 1.5 T imager. Both sequences
were acquired before and after intravenous injection of a paramagnetic
contrast agent. Subtraction images in T1-weighted sequences were
obtained by subtracting the pre-contrast images from the post-contrast
ones. A significant difference was found between the numbers of enhanced
areas in post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without and with MT
(p=0.020). The post-gadolinium T1-weighted images with MT allowed the
detection of an increased (13) number of enhancing lesions compared with
post-gadolinium T1-weighted images without MT. A significant difference
was also found between the numbers of enhanced areas in post-gadolinium
T1-weighted images without MT and subtraction images without MT
(p=0.020). The subtraction images without MT allowed the detection of an
increased (10) number of enhancing lesions compared with post-gadolinium
T1-weighted images without MT. Magnetization transfer contrast and
subtraction techniques appear to be the simplest and least
time-consuming applications to improve the conspicuity and detection of
contrast-enhancing lesions in patients with MS
