Susceptibility-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Detection of Cerebral Microhemorrhage in Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury

The sensitivity of susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was compared with conventional MR sequences, including T_2^*-weighted imaging, and computed tomography for the detection of cerebral hemorrhages in 15 patients with head injury. Susceptibility-weighted imaging detected a mean of 76±52 (total 1132) hypointense spotty lesions, compared to a mean of 21±19 (total 316) detected by T_2^*-weighted imaging (p<0.0001, paired t-test). Susceptibility-weighted imaging is extremely sensitive for the visualization and detection of microhemorrhages.