ABSTRACT

Magnetic resonance (MR) neurography was used on an outpatient basis in 56 men, 244 women; mean age 41 ±0.8 and 53±1.4 years, respectively; range, 22-84 years with various pelvic floor dysfunctions and in 25 consecutive patients ( 8 males, 17 females; mean age, 38 years; range, 29-48 years) with chronic pelvic pain of undetermined origin to evaluate the appearance of the pudendal nerve. Most commonly, a combination of fat-suppressed T2-W and short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) imaging sequences allowed successful depiction of nerve course anatomy and localization of lesions at site of disease, entrapment or injuries. Key images for interpretation were obtained in the axial and coronal orthogonal and oblique planes. A major disadvantage of these conventional imaging techniques is their inability to distinguish nerve from vessels due to similar MR signal intensity. To improve visualization of nerves, the bright fluid signal suppression technique should be implemented.