Differentiation of calcification from chronic hemorrhage with corrected gradient echo phase imaging

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the current study was to prospectively evaluate the role of corrected gradient echo phase imaging in differentiation of calcified granuloma from chronic hemorrhage.

Method: Eighty-five patients with single/multiple calcifications and hemorrhages irrespective of their location were studied with corrected gradient echo phase imaging. In all the cases, CT was used as the gold standard for the presence/absence of calcification.

Results: All calcified lesions showed positive phase, whereas chronic hemorrhages showed negative phase in all cases. Five calcified lesions showed no phase shift at TE =15 ms and positive shift at TE = 35 ms. Heterogeneous phase shift was observed in three calcified lesions at TE = 35 ms; all three lesions showed positive phase shift at TE = 15 ms. There was no site-specific problem in differentiation of calcification from chronic hemorrhage including in the basal ganglia.

Conclusion: We conclude that calcified granuloma can be easily differentiated from chronic hemorrhage with corrected gradient echo phase imaging, which may obviate the need for CT for its confirmation.