Circumventricular organs of human brain visualized on post-contrast 3D fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging

Abstract

Purpose: Although contrast-enhanced three-dimensional T2 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (3D T2-FLAIR) images are useful for assessing various neuronal diseases, physiological enhancement of the circumventricular organs on the images have not been investigated. We aimed to assess the physiological appearance of the circumventricular organs on contrast-enhanced 3D T2-FLAIR images.

Methods: We studied 3-T MR images of the brain of 30 individuals with no apparent brain abnormalities. In ten areas of the brain, the degree of contrast enhancement on 3D T2-FLAIR and magnetization-prepared rapid gradient-echo (MPRAGE) images was evaluated using a 4-point grading system. The pre- and post-contrast mean contrast ratios (CRs) of the anterior pituitary gland, median eminence, and pineal gland were compared.

Results: On post-contrast 3D T2-FLAIR images, marked enhancement was most frequently scored in the median eminence, followed by the choroid plexus, posterior pituitary gland, and pineal gland. In 10 of the 30 cases, the vascular organ of the lamina terminalis and the area postrema were enhanced but the subcommissural organ was not. The difference in the mean pre- and post-contrast CRs of the median eminence and pineal gland was statistically significant, while that of the anterior pituitary gland was not.

Conclusion: On contrast-enhanced 3D T2-FLAIR images, the circumventricular organs show variable enhancement. Our findings help to recognize physiological and abnormal enhancement of brain structures on contrast-enhanced 3D T2-FLAIR images.

Keywords: 3-T scanner; 3D FLAIR; Circumventricular organs; Contrast enhancement; MRI.