Purpose : To compare the usefulness of echo-planar imaging(EPI) and fast spin-echo(FSE) in routine brain MRimaging. Materials and Methods : Twenty-five patients with various intracranial diseases were prospectivelyexamined with T2-weighted MR imaging on a 1.5T unit using FSE, spin echo singl-shot EPI(SS-EPI) and multi-shotEPI(MS-EPI) techniques. For qualitative assessment, overall image quality, discrimination between corticalgray-white matter and between basal ganglia-white matter, lesion conspicuity, image distortion andartifacts(motion, ghost, flow, and susceptibility) were all evaluated using a subjective scoring system rangingfrom 1 to 4 (1 for the worst and 4 for the best). For quantitative assessment, contrast and contrast-to-noiseratio(CNR) were calculated for cortical gray-white matter, basal ganglia-white matter, and lesion-white matter.Results : Overall image quality, discrimination between cortical gray-white matter, basal ganglia-white matter,and lesion-white matter, lesion conspicuity, image distortion and susceptibility artifacts showed the highestvalue in FSE and the lowest in SS-EPI. Motion artifacts were seen only in FSE, while flow and ghost artifacts weremost commonly seen in SS-EPI. Contrast and CNR of anatomical and pathologic structures showed the highest value inFSE, especially for cortical gray-white matter and basal ganglia-white matter . Conclusion : With regard tooverall image quality, image distortion, susceptibility artifacts, contrast and CNR, EPI is far inferior to FSE.In routine brain MR imaging., the usefulness of EPI techniques would therefore be very limited.