Results

After eliminating duplicates, a total of 8647 articles underwent screening based on their titles and abstracts, with each entry evaluated independently by two reviewers. This process led to the identification of 446 titles/abstracts relevant to the topic of interest. A subsequent screening of titles/abstracts with the appropriate indication (TEBPI) and intervention (MRI) generated 120 full text articles eligible for review. An assessment of these full texts was then performed, along with cross-referencing of citations, and a final round of exclusion criteria focusing on studies lacking detailed MRI protocols. During this stage, 13 studies focusing on brachial plexus injury sequelae, 6 on non-mechanical injuries, 2 on thoracic outlet syndrome, and 1 on Parsonage-Turner syndrome were excluded. Ultimately, 98 full text studies were deemed suitable for inclusion in the database. (Fig. 1). These selected studies spanned publication dates from 1993 to 2023. No formal bias assessment was conducted in keeping with scoping review methodology, and the MRI protocol parameters for diagnosing brachial plexus injury were summarized descriptively [17]. The final cohort of studies included can be viewed in Table 1. Further details on extracted imaging parameters for each study are provided in ¹.

Fig. 1: PRISMA flow chart. Flow chart outlining the various stages of the study selection process, including the identification, screening, eligibility assessment, and final inclusion of studies. TOS = Thoracic Outlet Syndrome.

Title of Study | Author | Year of Publication | Type of Imaging | Study Design | Reference Standard | Sample size | Clinical Setting
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Obstetrical Brachial Plexus Injuries. | Abbott et al. | 2004 | MRI | Retro | Surgical exploration | 15 | Hospital
Advanced Radiological Work-up As an Adjunct to Decision in Early Reconstructive Surgery in Brachial Plexus Injuries | Abul-Kasim et al. | 2010 | MRI, CTM | Retro | Surgical exploration | 7 | Hospital
Diagnostic accuracy of MRI for traumatic adult brachial plexus injury: A comparison study with surgical findings | Acharya et al. | 2020 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 35 | Hospital
Do Not Forget the Brachial Plexus-prevalence Of Distal Brachial Plexus Pathology on Routine Shoulder MRI. | Antil et al. | 2021 | MRI | Retro | N/A | 701 | Hospital
Sensory Neuronopathy Involves the Spinal Cord and Brachial Plexus: A Quantitative Study Employing Multiple-echo Data Image Combination (MEDIC) And Turbo Inversion Recovery Magnitude (TIRM). | Bao et al. | 2013 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 45 | Hospital
Neonatal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Without Sedation Correlates with Injury Severity in Brachial Plexus Birth Palsy. | Bauer et al. | 2017 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 9 | Hospital
Two Clinical Tests Assessing Long Thoracic Nerve Function to Determine C5 And C6 Root Graft Eligibility in Patients with Brachial Plexus Injury | Bertelli et al. | 2022 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 41 | Hospital
Evaluation Of Mr-neurography In Diagnosis and Treatment in Peripheral Nerve Surgery of the Upper Extremity: A Matched Cohort Study. | Boecker et al. | 2022 | MRN | Retro | ENG, neurosonography | 29 | Hospital
Diagnostic Accuracy of Imaging Studies for Diagnosing Root Avulsions in Post-traumatic Upper Brachial Plexus Traction Injuries in Adults. | Bordalo-Rodrigues et al. | 2020 | MRI, CTM | Pro | Surgical exploration | 52 | Hospital
Brachial Plexus Injuries: Diagnosis Performance and Reliability of Everyday Tools. | Caporrino et al. | 2014 | MRI | Retro | Surgical exploration | 102 | Hospital
Diagnosis Of Root Avulsions in Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injuries: Value of Computerized Tomography Myelography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. | Carvalho et al. | 1997 | MRI, CTM | Pro | Surgical exploration | 135 | Hospital
Value Of Clinical Findings, Electrodiagnosis and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of Root Lesions in Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injuries. | Chanlalit et al. | 2005 | MRI, EMG | Retro | Surgical exploration | 175 | Hospital
Differential Diagnosis Between Pre- and Postganglionic Adult Traumatic Brachial Plexus Lesions by Ultrasonography. | Chen et al. | 2011 | MRI, US | Pro | Surgical exploration | 40 | Hospital
Value Of Enhancement Technique In 3D-T2-STIR Images of the Brachial Plexus. | Chen et al. | 2014 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 30 | Hospital
Impact Of High Resolution 3 Tesla MR Neurography (MRN) On Diagnostic Thinking and Therapeutic Patient Management | Chhabra et al. | 2016 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 81 | Hospital
The Anatomy of the Brachial Plexus as Displayed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Technique and Application. | Collins et al. | 1995 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 235 | Hospital
Compromising Abnormalities of the Brachial Plexus as Displayed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging. | Collins et al. | 1995 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 175 | Hospital
Accuracy Of MR Neurography In the Diagnosis of Brachial Plexopathy. | Crim et al. | 2017 | MRN | Retro | ENG, neurosonography | 43 | Hospital
Diagnostic Contribution of Contrast-enhanced 3D MR Imaging of Peripheral Nerve Pathology. | Deshmukh et al. | 2021 | MRI | Retro | N/A | 60 | Hospital
MRI Of the Brachial Plexus: A Review Of 51 Cases. | deVerdier et al. | 1993 | MRI | Retro | Surgical exploration | 51 | Hospital
Diagnostic Accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging With 3-dimensional T2-SPACE Techniques for Preganglionic Injury of the Brachial Plexus | Doi et al. | 2022 | MRI | Retro | Surgical Exploration | 119 | Hospital
Cervical Nerve Root Avulsion in Brachial Plexus Injuries: Magnetic Resonance Imaging Classification and Comparison with Myelography and Computerized Tomography Myelography. | Doi et al. | 2002 | MRI | Retro | CT Myelography, Myelography | 35 | Hospital
Magnetic Resonance Neurography for the Evaluation of Peripheral Nerve, Brachial Plexus, And Nerve Root Disorders. | Du et al. | 2010 | MRN | Retro | ENG, NCS | 191 | Hospital
The Value of Preoperative Examination and MRI For the Diagnosis of Graftable Roots in Total Brachial Plexus Palsy. | Echalier et al. | 2019 | MRI | Retro | Surgical exploration | 27 | Hospital
Role Of FIESTA Combined with Conventional MRI In the Evaluation of Traumatic Brachial Plexus Roots Injury | ElMogy et al. | 2011 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 16 | Hospital
Axial T2-DRIVE MRI Myelography Is Highly Accurate in Diagnosing Preganglionic Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injuries: Why Pseudomeningoceles Should Not Be Used as a Primary Diagnostic Sign. | Elsakka et al. | 2022 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 24 | Hospital
Application Of Magnetic Resonance Neurography in the Evaluation of Patients with Peripheral Nerve Pathology | Filler et al. | 1996 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 242 | Hospital
Clinical Impact of Magnetic Resonance Neurography in Patients with Brachial Plexus Neuropathies. | Fisher et al. | 2016 | MRN | Retro | N/A | 121 | Hospital
Role Of MRI In the Diagnosis of Adult Traumatic and Obstetric Brachial Plexus Injury Compared to Intraoperative Findings | Gad et al. | 2020 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 37 | Hospital
Three-dimensional MR Myelography Of Traumatic Injuries of the Brachial Plexus. | Gasparotti et al. | 1997 | MRM | Pro | CT myelography, myelography | 20 | Hospital
Feasibility Of Diffusion Tensor Tractography of Brachial Plexus Injuries At 1.5 T. | Gasparotti et al. | 2013 | MRI, MRN | Pro | N/A | 28 | Hospital
Diagnostic Value and Surgical Implications of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Management of Adult Patients with Brachial Plexus Pathologies. | Gerevini et al. | 2008 | MRI | Retro | N/A | 115 | Hospital
Assessment Of the Usefulness of X-ray Myelography and Magnetic Resonance Myelography, Performed with an Open Low-field Device, In Diagnosing Perinatal Preganglionic Injuries of the Brachial Plexus | Gosk et al. | 2012 | MRM | Retro | Xray myelography | 40 | Hospital
Clinical Significance of Cervical MRI In Brachial Plexus Birth Injury. | Grahn et al. | 2019 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 157 | Hospital
Evidence For Increased Magnetic Resonance Imaging Signal Intensity and Morphological Changes in the Brachial Plexus and Median Nerves of Patients with Chronic Arm and Neck Pain Following Whiplash Injury. | Greening et al. | 2018 | MRI | Cross sectional | Clinical examination | 23 | Physical therapy and orthopaedic clinics
Brachial Plexus Ultrasound and MRI In Children with Brachial Plexus Birth Injury. | Gunes et al. | 2018 | MRI, US | Pro | MRI | 55 | Hospital
Value Of Shoulder US Compared to MRI In Infants with Obstetric Brachial Plexus Paralysis. | Gunes et al. | 2021 | MRI, US | Pro | MRI | 42 | Hospital
The Application of Contrast Enhanced 3D-STIR-VISTA MR Imaging of the Brachial Plexus | Han et al. | 2022 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 30 | Hospital
Quantitative MR Neurography Of Brachial Plexus Lesions Based on Diffusivity Measurements | Hassan et al. | 2018 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 34 | Hospital
Brachial Plexus Traumatic Root Injury in Adults: Role of Different Non-Contrast MRI Sequences in Pre-Operative Assessment | Hassan et al. | 2017 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 20 | Hospital
The Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Management of Traction Injuries to the Adult Brachial Plexus. | Hems et al. | 1999 | MRI | Pro | surgical exploration | 26 | Hospital
Somatotopic Fascicular Lesions of the Brachial Plexus Demonstrated by High-resolution Magnetic Resonance Neurography. | Hilgenfeld et al. | 2017 | MRN | Pro | EMG | 36 | Hospital
Cervical Root Avulsion - Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings and Comparison of Diagnostic Accuracy Between Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Conventional Myelography | Hong et al. | 1996 | MRI | Retro | CT myelography | 35 | Hospital
Diagnostic Function Of 3-tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging for the Assessment of Brachial Plexus Injury | Hung et al. | 2020 | MRI | Retro | surgical exploration | 60 | Hospital
Magnetic Resonance Tractography of the Brachial Plexus: Step-by-step | Ibrahim et al. | 2022 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 31 | Hospital
Degree Of Agreement Between Electrodiagnostic Testing and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Evaluation of Brachial Plexopathy. | Kang et al. | 2019 | MRI | Retro | Electrodiagnostic study | 69 | Hospital
Improved Brachial Plexus Visualization Using an Adiabatic Imsde-prepared STIR 3D TSE. | Klupp et al. | 2019 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 22 | Hospital
Correlation Of Preoperative MRI With the Long-term Outcomes of Dorsal Root Entry Zone Lesioning for Brachial Plexus Avulsion Pain. | Ko et al. | 2016 | MRI | Retro | N/A | 15 | Hospital
Diagnostic Performance of Diffusion-weighted MR Neurography As an Adjunct to Conventional MRI For the Assessment of Brachial Plexus Pathology. | Kwee et al. | 2022 | MRN | Pro | MRI | 60 | Hospital
Value Of High-resolution MRI In the Diagnosis of Brachial Plexus Injury in Infants and Young Children | Lao et al. | 2022 | MRI | Retro | EMG | 26 | Hospital
Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injury: A Study Of 510 Surgical Cases from Multicenter Services in Guangxi, China. | Li et al. | 2019 | MRI | Pro | CT | 510 | Hospital
MRI Neurography Findings in Patients with Idiopathic Brachial Plexopathy: Correlations with Clinical-neurophysiological Data in Eight Consecutive Cases. | Luigetti et al. | 2013 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 8 | Hospital
Additive Value of Magnetic Resonance Neurography in Diagnosis of Brachial Plexopathy: A Cross-section Descriptive Study | Mabrouk et al. | 2021 | MRN | Retro | Clinical examination | 40 | Hospital
Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Traumatic Brachial Plexopathy: A Guiding Light for Surgeons | Manzoor et al. | 2021 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 40 | Hospital
Diagnostic Performance of MRI And MR Myelography In Infants with a Brachial Plexus Birth Injury. | Medina et al. | 2006 | MRI, MRM | Pro | Surgical exploration, MEP, SEP | 31 | Hospital
Surgical Treatment of Brachial Plexus Injuries. | Mehta et al. | 1993 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 99 | Hospital
Brachial Plexopathy in Infants After Traumatic Delivery: Evaluation with MR Imaging. | Miller et al. | 1993 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 5 | Hospital
Non-traumatic Brachial Plexopathies, Clinical, Radiological and Neurophysiological Findings from a Tertiary Centre. | Mullins et al. | 2007 | MRI | Retro | EMG, NCS | 25 | Hospital
Magnetic Resonance Neurography of the Brachial Plexus Using 3D SHINKEI: Comparative Evaluation with Conventional Magnetic Resonance Sequences for the Visualization of Anatomy and Detection of Nerve Injury At 1.5 t | Nair et al. | 2021 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 24 | Hospital
Magnetic Resonance Myelography in Brachial Plexus Injury. | Nakamura et al. | 1997 | MRN | Pro | CT myelography, myelography | 10 | Hospital
The Diagnostic Value of MRI In Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injury. | Ochi et al. | 1994 | MRI | Pro | EMG, Surgical exploration | 34 | Hospital
Correlation Of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Neurography) And Electrodiagnostic Study Findings with Intraoperative Findings in Post Traumatic Brachial Plexus Palsy | Patel et al. | 2022 | MRN | Pro | Electrodiagnostic study | 48 | Hospital
Clinical, Electrophysiological, And Imaging Findings in Childhood Brachial Plexus Injury | Portwood et al. | 2022 | MRI | Retro | Electrodiagnostic study | 21 | Hospital
Diagnostic Value and Surgical Implications of the 3D DW-SSFP MRI On the Management of Patients with Brachial Plexus Injuries. | Qin et al. | 2016 | MRN | Pro | EMG, Surgical exploration, SEP | 33 | Hospital
Diagnostic Value of Magnetic Resonance Neurography in Cervical Radiculopathy: Plexus Patterns and Peripheral Nerve Lesions. | Schwarz et al. | 2018 | MRN | Pro | Electrodiagnostic study | 24 | Hospital
Non-sedated Rapid Volumetric Proton Density MRI Predicts Neonatal Brachial Plexus Birth Palsy Functional Outcome. | Shen et al. | 2017 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 9 | Hospital
Magnetic Resonance Neurography in Children with Birth-related Brachial Plexus Injury. | Smith et al. | 2008 | MRN | Pro | Electrodiagnostic study | 11 | Hospital
MRI Evaluation of Nerve Root Avulsion in Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy: Understanding the Presence of Isolated Dorsal/Ventral Rootlet Disruption. | Smith et al. | 2021 | MRI | Retro | Surgical exploration | 60 | Hospital
Assessment Of Obstetric Brachial Plexus Injury with Preoperative Ultrasound. | Smith et al. | 2016 | MRI, US | Retro | Surgical exploration | 8 | Hospital
Post-contrast 3D Inversion Recovery Magnetic Resonance Neurography for Evaluation of Branch Nerves of the Brachial Plexus. | Sneag et al. | 2020 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 18 | Hospital
Prospective Respiratory Triggering Improves High-resolution Brachial Plexus MRI Quality. | Sneag et al. | 2019 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 25 | Hospital
High-resolution MRI Evaluation of Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy: A Promising Alternative to Traditional CT Myelography. | Somashekar et al. | 2014 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 13 | Hospital
Usefulness Of IDEAL T2 Imaging for Homogeneous Fat Suppression and Reducing Susceptibility Artefacts in Brachial Plexus MRI At 3.0 T. | Tagliafico et al. | 2016 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 80 | Hospital
MR Imaging of the Brachial Plexus: Comparison Between 1.5-T And 3-T MR Imaging: Preliminary Experience. | Tagliafico et al. | 2011 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 60 | Hospital
Brachial Plexus Assessment with Three-dimensional Isotropic Resolution Fast Spin Echo MRI: Comparison with Conventional MRI At 3.0 T. | Tagliafico et al. | 2012 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 14 | Hospital
Diagnostic Accuracy of MRI In Adults with Suspect Brachial Plexus Lesions: A Multicentre Retrospective Study with Surgical Findings and Clinical Follow-up as Reference Standard. | Tagliafico et al. | 2012 | MRI | Pro | Surgical exploration | 157 | Hospital
Concordance And Discrepancy Between Electrodiagnosis and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Cervical Root Avulsion Injuries. | Tsai et al. | 2006 | MRI | Pro | EMG | 37 | Hospital
The Diagnostic Value of CT Myelography, MR Myelography, And Both in Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy. | Tse et al. | 2014 | MRM | Retro | CT myelography | 19 | Hospital
MR Neurography In Traumatic Brachial Plexopathy. | Upadhyaya et al. | 2015 | MRN | Pro | Surgical exploration | 20 | Hospital
A Decade of Imaging Patients with Traumatic Brachial Plexopathy: What Have We Learned? | Upadhyaya et al. | 2023 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 134 | Hospital
MR Neurography In Traumatic, Non-obstetric Paediatric Brachial Plexopathy. | Upadhyaya et al. | 2018 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 25 | Hospital
Diagnosis Of Nerve Root Avulsion Injuries in Adults with Traumatic Brachial Plexopathies: MRI Compared with CT Myelography | Van der Linde et al. | 2015 | MRI, MRM | Retro | NA | 16 | Hospital
Detection Of Root Avulsion in the Dominant C7 Obstetric Brachial Plexus Lesion: Experience with Three-dimensional Constructive Interference in Steady-state Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Electrophysiology. | Van Ouwerkerk et al. | 2005 | MRI | Pro | Surgical Exploration | 10 | Hospital
Use Of Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Diagnose Brachial Plexus Injuries | Veronesi et al. | 2018 | MRI | Pro | Surgical Exploration | 3 | Hospital
The Diagnostic Accuracy Of 1.5 T Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Detecting Root Avulsions in Traumatic Adult Brachial Plexus Injuries. | Wade et al. | 2018 | MRI | Retro | Surgical Exploration | 29 | Hospital
Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Diagnosing Root Avulsions in Traumatic Adult Brachial Plexus Injuries: A Proof-of-concept Study | Wade et al. | 2020 | MRI | Cross sectional | N/A | 19 | Hospital
Periscalene Soft Tissue: The New Imaging Hallmark in Erb Palsy. | Wandler et al. | 2010 | MRI | Retro | N/A | 37 | Hospital
The Application of Paramagnetic Contrast-based T2 Effect To 3D Heavily T2W High-resolution MR Imaging of the Brachial Plexus and Its Branches. | Wang et al. | 2016 | MRN | Pro | N/A | 30 | Hospital
Modified Pathological Classification of Brachial Plexus Root Injury and Its MR Imaging Characteristics. | Yang et al. | 2014 | MRI | Retro | N/A | 86 | Hospital
Predicting Healthy C5 Spinal Nerve Stumps Eligible for Grafting With MRI, Tinel Test, And Rhomboid Electromyography: A Retrospective Study Of 295 Consecutive Brachial Plexus Surgeries. | Yeow et al. | 2021 | MRI | Retro | EMG | 251 | Hospital
Clinical Assessment, MRI, And EMG In Congenital Brachial Plexus Palsy. | Yilmaz et al. | 1999 | MRI | Pro | EMG | 13 | Hospital
A Robust 3D Fast Spin-echo Technique for Fast Examination of the Brachial Plexus | Yoon et al. | 2022 | MRI | Cross sectional | N/A | 14 | Hospital
Three-tesla Magnetic Resonance Neurography of the Brachial Plexus in Cervical Radiculopathy. | Yoshida et al. | 2015 | MRN | Retro | N/A | 12 | Hospital
Clinical Value and Diagnostic Accuracy Of 3.0 T Multi-parameter Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injury. | Zhang et al. | 2018 | MRI | Pro | EMG, Surgical exploration | 53 | Hospital
The Effects of Three Different Contrast Agents (Gd-bopta, Gd-dtpa, And Gd-dota) On Brachial Plexus Magnetic Resonance Imaging | Zhang et al. | 2021 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 60 | Hospital
Segmented Echo Planar MR Imaging of the Brachial Plexus with Inversion Recovery Magnetization Preparation At 3.0 t. | Zhang et al. | 2008 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 50 | Hospital
Mri-based Optimization Design of the Pre-spinal Route of Contralateral C7 Nerve Transfer for Spastic Arm Paralysis | Zhao et al. | 2022 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 80 | Hospital
Increased Diagnostic Accuracy of Post-contrast MR 3D-STIR For Brachial Plexus Injury | Chen et al. | 2016 | MRI | Pro | N/A | 48 | Hospital

When considering the magnetic field strength used, a majority of studies utilized 1.5 T systems (n = 53), with 3 T being the second most reported magnetic field strength (n = 39). Low-strength systems such as 1 T and 0.5 T were each reported twice, while 0.23 T was reported once [21], [22], [23], [24]. None of the authors reported the use of a higher field system such as 7 T scanners. Over half of the studies reported the use of fat suppression for 2D sequences (n = 52), with STIR being the predominant choice (n = 37), while CHESS (Fat Saturation) was utilized in ten studies, and Dixon in seven studies, SPAIR in four. WET was used in one study (Fig. 2). [25], [26]. The reported 2D fat suppression techniques and 3D MRI sequences, categorized by magnetic field strength, are summarized in Table 2.

Fig. 2: Bar graph illustrating distribution of articles reporting various 2-dimensional fat suppression techniques for brachial plexus injury. STIR = Short Tau inversion Recovery, CHESS = Chemical Shift Selective fat saturarion, SPAIR = Spectral Adiabatic Inversion Recovery, SSRF = Spectral-Spatial Resonance Frequency, Pro-SET = Principle of Selective Excitation, WET = Water Excitation Technique, SPIR = Spectral Presaturation with Inversion Recovery.

Category | Technique | Total Papers (N) | Papers Reporting 1.5 T (N) | Papers Reporting 3 T (N)
2D fat suppression | STIR | 37 | 23 | 15
CHESS | 10 | 6 | 6
Dixon | 7 | 4 | 4
SPAIR | 4 | 1 | 3
Others | 7 | 5 | 3
3D MRI sequence | STIR SPACE | 8 | 5 | 4
T2 STIR SPACE | 6 | 2 | 4
STIR | 4 | 4 | 2
T2 STIR | 2 | 0 | 2
FIESTA | 6 | 6 | 0
Others | 8 | 3 | 5

Thirty-four papers documented the utilization of 3D techniques. Among these, 3D SPACE STIR was the most reported sequence (N = 8); 3D FIESTA (N = 6) and 3D T2 STIR SPACE (N = 6) were the second most reported sequences; 3D STIR ( N = 4), 3D T2 STIR (N = 2), 3D T2 SPACE (N = 2), 3D-T2 STIR with 3D TSE + SPACE (N = 1), 3D IMSDE STIR + TSE (N = 1), 3D Nerve SHINKEI (N = 1), 3D DW SSFP (N = 1), Triple echo Dixon (N = 1), and CUBE STIR (N = 1) (Fig. 3). The oldest study in our subgroup that reported use of Dixon occurred in 2015, while the oldest study that reported use of STIR dated back to 2005 (Fig. 4). The oldest study that reported CHESS/Fat-Sat dates back even earlier to 1994.

Fig. 3: Bar graph illustrating the distribution of articles reporting various 3-dimensional MRI sequences used in brachial plexus imaging. STIR = short tau inversion recovery; SPACE = Sampling Perfection with Application-optimized Contrasts using different flip-angle Evolutions; FIESTA = fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition; TSE = turbo spin echo; IMSDE = improved motion-sensitized driven equilibrium; DW = diffusion-weighted; SSFP = steady-state free precession.

Fig. 4: Line graph illustrating the number of studies using STIR, Dixon and CHESS by publication year. STIR = Short Tau inversion Recovery, CHESS = Chemical Shift Selective.

While use of advanced MRI techniques such as diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) varied across studies, most of the studies that included these techniques specifically utilized MRI Myelography (N = 13), with DWI being reported in 12 studies, and DTI being reported in 3 studies.

Footnotes

1. Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in the online version at doi:10.1016/j.ejro.2026.100809. ↩