Proton density MRI outperforms T2-weighted sequences for nerve-vessel contrast in trigeminal neuralgia

Proton density (PD) MRI provided superior contrast between the trigeminal nerve and adjacent arteries versus 3D-T2 turbo spin echo at both 3T and 7T, and yielded the highest qualitative image-quality scores, making it a valuable complement for evaluating trigeminal neuralgia.

• A retrospective analysis of 21 7T and 21 3T MRI exams compared PD, 3D-T2 TSE, and CISS sequences.
• At 3T, post-contrast CISS was best for nerve-vein contrast, but PD still outperformed 3D-T2 TSE for this metric.
• As a single-center, retrospective study, the incremental diagnostic accuracy or clinical impact of adding PD imaging was not assessed.

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