MR Imaging of Hyperacute Subarachnoid and Intraventricular Hemorrhage at 3T: A Preliminary Report of Gradient Echo T2*-Weighted Sequences

Summary: We describe MR imaging findings applying gra-dient echo (GRE) T2*-weighted and fluid-attenuated inver-sion recovery (FLAIR) MR images at 3T to three patients with hyperacute subarachnoid and intraventricular hemor-rhage from ruptured aneurysms. Hyperacute subarachnoid and intraventricular hemorrhages (SAH and IVH) were more clearly visualized as an area of decreased signal intensity on GRE T2*-weighted sequences than on FLAIR sequences in all three patients. These preliminary results suggest that acute SAH and IVH with GRE T2*-weighted imaging can be reliably diagnosed at 3T. Previous studies have demonstrated that fluid-at-tenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequences are very sensitive to acute (12 hours) subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and acute (48 hours) intraven