Surface coil

MRI sequences were acquired using a 1.5-T GE scanner (Milwaukee, WI), equipped with an 8-channel cervical-thoracic-lumbar surface coil. Patients underwent routine MRI, including sagittal T1 (field of view [FOV], 32–36 cm; slice thickness, 3 mm; repetition time [TR], 400–650 ms; flip angle [FA], 90°) and T2 (FOV, 32–36 cm; slice thickness, 3 mm; TR, 3500–4000 ms; FA, 90°), axial T1 (FOV, 18 cm; slice thickness, 8 mm; FA, 90°) and T2 (FOV, 18 cm; slice thickness, 8 mm; TR, 3000–4000 ms; FA, 90°), and sagittal short inversion time inversion recovery (FOV, 32–36 cm; slice thickness, 3 mm; TR, 3500–6000 ms; FA, 90°).
DCE-MRI of the spine was acquired upon completion of routine MRI scans. A power injector was used to administer a bolus of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid at a dose of 0.1 mmol/kg and rate of 2 to 3 mL/s. The kinetic enhancement of tissue before and after contrast injection was obtained using a 3-dimensional T1-weighted fast spoiled-gradient echo sequence (TR, 4–5 ms; echo time, 1–2 ms; slice thickness, 5 mm; FA, 25°; FOV, 32 cm; matrix, 256×128; temporal resolution of 6~7s) and consisted of 10 to 12 images in the sagittal plane. Ten phases for pre-injection time delay and 30 phases for post-injection were obtained. Sagittal and axial T1-weighted post–injection MR images were additionally acquired after DCE-MRI.

MRI sequences of the spine were acquired with a 1.5T GE scanner (Milwaukee, WI) using an 8-channel cervical-thoracic-lumbar (CTL) surface coil. All patients underwent routine MRI, including sagittal T₁ (field-of-view [FOV], 32–36 cm; slice thickness, 3 mm; repetition time [TR], 400–650 msec; flip angle [FA], 90°) and T₂ (FOV, 32–36 cm; slice thickness, 3 mm; TR, 3500–4000 msec; FA, 90°) and sagittal STIR (FOV, 32–36 cm; slice thickness, 3 mm; TR, 3500–6000 msec; FA, 90°).
DCE-MRI of the spine was then acquired. A bolus of gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-DTPA) was administered by a power injector at 0.1 mmol/kg body weight and a rate of 2 to 3 mL/sec. The kinetic enhancement of tissue during and after injection of Gd-DTPA was obtained using a 3D T₁-weighted fast spoiled-gradient (SPGR) echo sequence (TR, 4–5 milliseconds; echo time [TE], 1–2 milliseconds; slice thickness, 5 mm; FA, 25°; FOV, 32 cm; temporal resolution (Δt) of 6.5 seconds and consisted of 10–12 images in the sagittal plane. The 3D SPGR sequences generated phase images in addition to the standard magnitude images. The duration of the DCE sequence was 300 seconds. Sagittal and axial T₁-weighted post-Gd-DTPA MR images were acquired after DCE-MRI.