Prospective Comparison of T1-SPACE and MPRAGE for the Identification of Intrinsic T1 Hyperintensity in Patients with Intracranial Melanoma Metastases

SWI (left column), precontrast T1-SPACE (middle column), and precontrast MPRAGE (right column) images demonstrating the determination of the cause of T1H. In the first patient (A–C), there is a small intracranial melanoma metastasis (arrowheads) at the medial margin of the right paracentral lobule demonstrating T1H (B and C), but no magnetic susceptibility (A), thus consistent with melanin. A cerebellar vermian lesion (dotted circles) with central T1H in the second patient (D–F) demonstrates magnetic susceptibility throughout the lesion (D), thus the T1H is potentially entirely attributable to blood products. In the third patient (G–I), there is a small area of magnetic susceptibility at the anteromedial aspect of the lesion (G, arrow), but the remainder of the T1H (H and I, arrows) does not have associated magnetic susceptibility, consistent with a combination of melanin and blood products. In all 3 examples, the T1H is similarly conspicuous on T1-SPACE as MPRAGE.