European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the detection rate of pulmonary nodules in ultrashort echo time (UTE) lung magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to compare it with computed tomography (CT) in oncology patients.
Methods: The study was performed at department of radiology. Approval of the thesis was taken by the Institutional Ethical Committee and the study was performed according to standard protocols. In this study of comparison of UTE lung MRI and HRCT lungs for detection of pulmonary nodules in oncology patients, 50 patients were subjected to HRCT lungs and UTE lung MRI using the sequence Fl3d_spiralvibe cor 1.25mm iso.
Results: 50 patients who underwent both a spiral 3D UTE examination of the lungs and thin-section chest CT were included (35 men and 15 women; mean age, 62.2 years; range, 30–79 years). The mean duration between chest CT and MRI was 22.4 days (range, 0–30 days). Among the total number of nodules detected in both lungs of all patients, nodules detected by CT were 241, and nodules detected by MRI were 212. The nodule detection rate by MRI was 87.96%.
Conclusion: Our study results indicate that lung MRI had a near-complete detection rate for nodules equal to or more than 5 mm in size. Hence, in oncology patients who are undergoing regular follow-up of the lung nodules, lung MRI using UTE can replace low-dose CT, which in turn reduces the radiation dose to the patient.