Fat suppression in magnetic resonance imaging of the head and neck region: is the two-point DIXON technique superior to spectral fat suppression?

Objective: The aim of our study was to systematically compare two-point Dixon fat suppression (FS) and spectral FS techniques in contrast enhanced imaging of the head and neck region. Methods: Three independent readers analysed coronal T-1 weighted images recorded after contrast medium injection with Dixon and spectral FS techniques with regard to FS homogeneity, motion artefacts, lesion contrast, image sharpness and overall image quality. Results: 85 patients were prospectively enrolled in the study. Images generated with Dixon-FS technique were of higher overall image quality and had a more homogenous FS over the whole field of view compared with the standard spectral fat-suppressed images (p < 0.001). Concerning motion artefacts, flow artefacts, lesion contrast and image sharpness no statistically significant difference was observed. Conclusion: The Dixon-FS technique is superior to the spectral technique due to improved homogeneity of FS and overall image quality while maintaining lesion contrast. Advances in knowledge: T-1 with Dixon FS technique offers, compared to spectral FS, significantly improved FS homogeneity and over all image quality in imaging of the head and neck region