Skip to main content

Table 4 MRI technical artifacts. Pitfalls and pearls

From: Role of MRI in staging and follow-up of endometrial and cervical cancer: pitfalls and mimickers

Artifacts

Pitfall

Pearl

Motion artifacts

Peristalsis (bladder, bowel)

Limit visualization of the anatomical detail of the uterus

• Adequate patient preparation

• Use antiperistalsis agents

Sequence-specific artifacts while using rapid parallel imaging techniques such as ASSET (GE units) and SENSE (Phillips units), mSENSE (Siemens units)

May make image interpretation difficult

• Increase FOV

Metal artifacts

- Hip prosthesis

- Surgical clips

Limit visualization of the anatomical detail of the uterus and pelvic structures

Makes staging more difficult

• Use MARS sequences

  1. FOV field of view, MARS metal artifact reduction sequences