Sliding multislice MRI for abdominal staging of patients with pelvic malignancies: a pilot study

PURPOSE: To integrate SMS (sliding multislice imaging technique for acquiring axial images during continuous table motion) into a high-resolution pelvic MRI protocol for additional staging of the entire abdomen within one examination. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Axial two-dimensional images were acquired during continuous table motion using a fat-saturated contrast-enhanced T1-weighted gradient echo sequence. Patients held their breath during the first 20 s of the examination and breathed normally afterward while data acquisition continued. Measurement parameters were adjusted to optimize image quality throughout the total field of view. The method was investigated in 22 patients with pelvic malignancies. Two readers independently compared SMS image quality to conventional abdominal MR images, generated by a stationary multi-breath-hold gradient echo sequence. RESULTS: Qualitative evaluation yielded high diagnostic value of SMS data in body regions with no or minor breathing motion, and in those acquired during the initial breath-hold. Image quality in the upper abdomen, retroperitoneum, and pelvis is reproducible and equivalent to stationary MRI. Interfering artifacts are related to the intestine in the mid-abdomen. CONCLUSION: SMS is a promising technique that may have the potential for a first-line abdominal staging tool in patients with pelvic malignancies.