Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping in Identification of Intracranial Hemorrhage: A Case Report

Differentiation of intracranial hemorrhage andcalcification on conventional MR images is often challenging. Both pathologiesshow varying signal intensities on T1- and T2-weighted images. Phase imagesobtained in Susceptibility Weighted Imaging[1] and Quantitative SusceptibilityMapping[2] were utilized in identification of hemorrhage and calcification.This study explores the benefits of QSM on a case with hemorrhages and compareits findings with SWI phase images.   QSM provides a map of tissue magnetic susceptibility.The voxel intensity in QSM is linearly proportional to the underlying tissueapparent magnetic susceptibility, which is useful for chemical identificationand quantification of specific biomarkers including iron and calcium[2]. Case: MR images of 10-year-old patient with diagnosis ofhemorrhage and microhemorrhages were analyzed. Images consisted of conventionalMRI, SWI and multi-echo gradient echo (GE) sequence. QSM images werereconstructed from multi-echo GE images[3]. Both QSM images and SWI phaseimages were found successful in identifying microhemorrhages. The hemorrhagewas observed to have heterogeneous appearance on SWI in contrast to QSM. The comparativeresults of SWI and QSM will be discussed in the poster.