Magnetic resonance imaging differential diagnosis of brainstem lesions in children

Table 2 Optimized conventional imaging protocol at 3.0 Tesla (Magnetom Skyra, Siemens, Erlangen, Germany), configured with a 64 element designed Head Matrix coil

3.0 T	Plane	Seq.	TR (msec)	TE/TI (msec)	Flip angle	Slice (mm)	FOV	NEX	Matrix size	Scan time
Neonates	Axial1	TSE T1w	550	6.7	138	2	180	4	256 × 80	3.07
	Axial	IR	2006	12/500	150	2	180	2	256 × 80	4.48
	Coronal Axial	TSE T2w	10320	122	180	2	180	2	384 × 90	3.18
	Axial2	GRE T21w	600	20	20	2	180	2	256 × 85	3.35
	Axial3	FLAIR	9000	88/2500	150	2	180	1	320 × 70	3.56
	Axial1 DWI (b0 and b800)	EPI	8100	76	-	2	200	6	192 × 100	3.40
Infants and adolescents	Axial	TSE T1w	600	6.4	150	3	200	3	256 × 256	1.36
	Axial2	IR	2500	11/500	150	3	220	1	320 × 80	3.27
	Coronal and Axial	TSE T2w	6380	108	150	3	220	1	384 × 75	1.29
	Axial3	GRE T21w	630	20	20	4	220	1	320 × 75	2.33
	Axial	FLAIR Fat Sat	9000	85/2500	150	3	220	1	320 × 70	3.56
	Axial1 (b0 and b1000)	EPI	9000	98	-	3	220	3	192 × 100	3.00

TSE: Turbo spin echo; IR: Inversion recovery; GRE: Gradient echo; FLAIR: Fluid attenuated inversion recovery; TR: Repetition time; TE: Echo time; TI: Inversion time; FOV: Field of view; DWI: Diffusion weighted imaging; EPI: Echo planar imaging. Scan Time is expressed in minutes.

¹: Contrast agent if necessary;

²: Only if suspicion of bleeding;

³: Only if necessary.