STEVEN SHINN-FORNG PENGYoung C.HON-MAN LIUHuang K.-M.Li Y.-W.2020-09-222020-09-2220001018-8940https://scholars.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/123456789/514310For the purpose of evaluating the efficacy of the fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) pulse sequence and increasing the sensitivity of detecting inflammatory lesions in children, we compared FLAIR with fast T2-weighted images in 36 patients who had intracranial inflammatory diseases in the last 3 years. Our results disclosed that FLAIR images detected significantly more lesions than did fast T2-WI (p < 0.01) and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images. The FLAIR pulse sequence combined with T2-weighting with nulling of the signal from cerebrospinal fluid was superior to fast spin-echo sequences in detecting peripheral and periventricular lesions. Post-contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images were more suitable for detecting leptomeningeal processes than were FLAIR images. We conclude that FLAIR images are complementary to fast T2-weighted images and contrast-enhanced T1W images. We suggest that FLAIR should be part of routine brain MR imaging protocols, particularly to define parenchymal lesions adjacent to the ventricles and sulci.[SDGs]SDG3article; brain infection; cerebrospinal fluid; clinical article; contrast enhancement; encephalitis; female; human; infant; intermethod comparison; male; meningitis; nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; parenchyma; preschool child; signal detectionjournal article2-s2.0-0034495521