| Summary: | Purpose To assess the quality of four images obtained using single-breath-hold (SBH), single-shot
fast spin-echo (SSFSE) and multiple-breath-hold (MBH) SSFSE with and without deep-learning based
reconstruction (DLR) in patients with Crohn’s disease.
Materials and Methods This study included 61 patients who underwent MR enterography (MRE) for
Crohn’s disease. The following images were compared: SBH-SSFSE with (SBH-DLR) and without (SBHconventional
reconstruction [CR]) DLR and MBH-SSFSE with (MBH-DLR) and without (MBH-CR) DLR.
Two radiologists independently reviewed the overall image quality, artifacts, sharpness, and motionrelated
signal loss using a 5-point scale. Three inflammatory parameters were evaluated in the ileum,
the terminal ileum, and the colon. Moreover, the presence of a spatial misalignment was evaluated.
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was calculated at two locations for each sequence.
Results DLR significantly improved the image quality, artifacts, and sharpness of the SBH images. No
significant differences in scores between MBH-CR and SBH-DLR were detected. SBH-DLR had the
highest SNR (p < 0.001). The inter-reader agreement for inflammatory parameters was good to excellent
(κ = 0.76–0.95) and the inter-sequence agreement was nearly perfect (κ = 0.92–0.94). Misalignment
artifacts were observed more frequently in the MBH images than in the SBH images (p < 0.001).
Conclusion SBH-DLR demonstrated equivalent quality and performance compared to MBH-CR. Furthermore, it can be acquired in less than half the time, without multiple BHs and reduce slice misalignments.
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