A 30-year-old patient undergoes an MRI brain for evaluation of a suspected brain tumor. After the administration of gadolinium-based contrast material, which MRI sequence is typically acquired to best visualize contrast enhancement?

Explanation

Gadolinium-based contrast agents shorten the T1 relaxation time of tissues where they accumulate. Therefore, T1-weighted sequences are used post-contrast to visualize enhancement, as areas with contrast uptake will appear bright (high signal intensity). T1-weighted sequences are typically acquired with fat suppression (e.g., T1 fat-sat) to further highlight the enhancement by suppressing the naturally bright signal from fat.