Detection of pulmonary nodules using a 2D HASTE MR sequence: comparison with MDCT.

Objective: The objective of our study was to determine the diagnostic performance of MRI based on a HASTE sequence for the detection of pulmonary nodules in comparison with MDCT.

Materials And Methods: Thirty patients with known pulmonary nodules underwent both MRI and CT. CT of the lung served as the standard of reference and was performed on a 4-MDCT scanner using a routine protocol.

Dark-lumen magnetic resonance colonography in patients with suspected sigmoid diverticulitis: a feasibility study.

To assess dark-lumen magnetic resonance colonography (MRC) for the evaluation of patients with suspected sigmoid diverticulitis. Forty patients with suspected sigmoid diverticulitis underwent MRC within 72 h prior to conventional colonoscopy (CC). A three-dimensional T1-weighted volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination sequence was acquired after an aqueous enema and intravenous administration of gadolinium-based contrast agents.

Magnetic resonance colonography without bowel cleansing using oral and rectal stool softeners (fecal cracking)--a feasibility study.

The aim of our study was to assess the effect of oral and rectal stool softeners on dark-lumen magnetic resonance (MR) colonography without bowel cleansing. Ten volunteers underwent MR colonography without colonic cleansing. A baseline examination was performed without oral or rectal administration of stool softeners.

Small bowel hydro-MR imaging for optimized ileocecal distension in Crohn's disease: should an additional rectal enema filling be performed?

Purpose: To assess the impact of an additional rectal enema filling in small bowel hydro-MRI in patients with Crohn's disease.

Materials And Methods: A total of 40 patients with known Crohn's disease were analyzed retrospectively: 20 patients only ingested an oral contrast agent (group A), the other 20 subjects obtained an additional rectal water enema (group B). For small bowel distension, a solution containing 0.

Magnetic resonance imaging of autologous fat grafting.

A 30-year-old female patient with isolated facial lipodystrophy underwent two sessions of fat injection. MR signals of injected fat at different injection ages were compared to native fat. Native T1 signal was smaller for transplant fat, probably due to a slightly lower fat content and/or fibrosis or due to higher perfusion.

Whole body MR angiography screening.

Lack of side effects, diagnostic accuracy and recent improvements in technology qualify magnetic resonance imaging for preventive cardiovascular imaging. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of a comprehensive contrast-enhanced three-dimensional whole-body MR (magnetic resonance) angiography examination technique using a rolling table platform system with a 1.5-T MR system.

Comparison of volume, four- and eight-channel head coils using standard and parallel imaging.

Array coils can potentially offer increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) over standard coils adjacent to the array elements, while preserving the SNR at the center of the volume. The SNR advantage should theoretically increase with the number of array elements. Parallel acquisition techniques (PAT), on the other hand, can benefit acquisition times or spatial resolution at a cost to SNR as well as image quality.

Oral contrast agents for small bowel distension in MRI: influence of the osmolarity for small bowel distention.

To assess the effect of the osmolarity for small bowel distension in MRI, ten volunteers ingested at two separate occasions negative oral contrast agents with different quantity and osmolarity: (1) a water solution combined with 2.0% sorbitol and 0.2% locus bean gum (LBG) with a quantity of 1500 ml and an osmolarity of 148 mOsmol/l, (2) a water solution combined with 2.

Full-body cardiovascular and tumor MRI for early detection of disease: feasibility and initial experience in 298 subjects.

Objective: High diagnostic accuracy, emerging whole-body concepts, and lack of side effects combine to render MRI a natural candidate for screening purposes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the technical feasibility of a comprehensive multiorgan-targeting MRI examination and determine the frequency of findings in subjects without a history of serious disease.

Subjects And Methods: The study group was composed of 331 subjects.

Magnetic resonance colonography: comparison of contrast-enhanced three-dimensional vibe with two-dimensional FISP sequences: preliminary experience.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare a dark-lumen magnetic resonance colonography (MRC) approach with a True FISP-based bright-lumen technique concerning presence of artifacts and the detection rate of colorectal pathologies.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-seven patients with suspected colorectal lesions were included in this trial. The colon was filled with 2500 mL of tap water.

MR colonography in patients with incomplete conventional colonoscopy.

Purpose: To assess dark-lumen magnetic resonance (MR) colonography for the evaluation of colonic segments in patients in whom conventional colonoscopy could not be completed.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and written informed consent were obtained. Within 24 hours of incomplete conventional colonoscopy, 37 patients (22 women, 15 men; age range, 25-63 years) underwent MR colonography.

Unknown primary tumors: detection with dual-modality PET/CT--initial experience.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate fused positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) in depicting the primary lesion in cancer of an unknown primary tumor, compared with PET, CT, and PET and CT side-by-side evaluation.

Materials And Methods: Institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained. Forty-five patients (26 men and 19 women) with metastatic cervical adenopathy (n = 18) or extracervical metastases (n = 27) of unknown primary tumor were included.

Dose optimization of mannitol solution for small bowel distension in MRI.

Purpose: To optimize the dose of a hydro solution containing 2.5% mannitol and 0.2% locust bean gum (LBG) for small bowel MRI in terms of bowel distension and patient acceptance.

Whole-body MR imaging: evaluation of patients for metastases.

Purpose: To compare the results of whole-body magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with staging based on computed tomographic (CT), dedicated MR imaging, and nuclear scintigraphic results as standard of reference.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-one patients with known malignant tumors were included in the study. Patients were placed on a rolling table platform capable of moving the patient rapidly through the isocenter of the magnet bore.

Impact of diet on stool signal in dark lumen magnetic resonance colonography.

Purpose: To examine the magnetic resonance (MR) properties of different foods and their effect on the colonic stool signal to potentially support fecal tagging strategies for dark lumen MR colonography (MRC).

Materials And Methods: T1 relaxation times of 120 different foods (partially diluted with sufficient water) were determined by use of a multi-flip-angle two-dimensional gradient echo (GRE) sequence and correlated to the foods' signal in a three-dimensional GRE volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) sequence. Different dilutions of six foods were examined.

Real-time high-resolution MRI for the assessment of gastric motility: pre- and postpharmacological stimuli.

Purpose: To determine the practicality of MRI using a new real-time sequence for the assessment of gastric motion, and quantify the effects of motility-modifying substances.

Materials And Methods: Six healthy volunteers ingested 400 mL of a high-calorie liquid nutrient. Two-dimensional real-time TrueFISP sequences were acquired for up to 30 minutes following the ingestion.

MR-based full-body preventative cardiovascular and tumor imaging: technique and preliminary experience.

Recent improvements in hardware and software, lack of side effects, as well as diagnostic accuracy make magnetic resonance imaging a natural candidate for preventative imaging. Thus, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of a comprehensive 60-min MR-based screening examination in healthy volunteers and a limited number of patients with known target disease. In ten healthy volunteers (7 men, 3 women; mean age, 32.

Dual-modality PET/CT scanning with negative oral contrast agent to avoid artifacts: introduction and evaluation.

The authors qualitatively and quantitatively assessed a solution containing 0.2% locust bean gum (LBG) and 2.5% mannitol (mannitol-LBG) dissolved in water to provide a negative oral contrast material in dual-modality positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scanning.

MR colonography: how does air compare to water for colonic distention?

Purpose: To prove the feasibility of air-distended magnetic resonance colonography (MRC) and compare it with water-based distention.

Materials And Methods: In five volunteers, the colon was imaged twice: once after distending the colon with air and a second time after distending the colon with water. A total of 50 patients, who had been referred to colonoscopy for a suspected colorectal pathology were randomized into water-distention (N = 25) and air-distention (N = 25) groups.

Whole-body dual-modality PET/CT and whole-body MRI for tumor staging in oncology.

Context: Deciding on the appropriate therapy for patients with malignant diseases mandates accurate tumor staging with whole-body coverage. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a combined modality including positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) provide whole-body tumor staging in a single session.

Objective: To determine the staging accuracies of both whole-body PET/CT and whole-body MRI for different malignant diseases.

Oral contrast agents for small bowel MRI: comparison of different additives to optimize bowel distension.

The purpose of this study was to compare two osmotic carbohydrate sugar alcohols (mannitol 2.5% and sorbitol 2.5%, 2.

Screening with MRI: a new "all inclusive" protocol.

In the past decades, only mammography has been considered to be a valuable radiological screening test in the European community, as the amount of ionizing radiation associated with other radiological imaging modalities did not justify their use for screening. MRI overcomes many limitations inherent to other imaging methods: lack of ionizing radiation, high spatial and temporal resolution, and unsurpassed soft-tissue contrast. Up to now, only few diseases have been screened for with MR: primarily breast cancer and colonic cancer.

Whole-body MRI using a rolling table platform for the detection of bone metastases.

The aim of this study was to compare the results of whole-body MRI using a recently developed rolling table platform with findings of nuclear scintigraphy in patients with bone metastases. Twenty-six patients with known or suspected bone metastases who had undergone radionuclide scintigraphy were examined by MRI. Patients were placed on a rolling table platform with integrated phased-array surface coils [BodySURF (system for unlimited field of view)] capable of pulling the patient through the isocenter of the magnet.

Three-dimensional volumetric interpolated breath-hold MR imaging for whole-body tumor staging in less than 15 minutes: a feasibility study.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) volumetric interpolated breath-hold whole-body MR imaging using CT and nuclear medicine techniques as the standard of reference in patients with metastases.

Conclusion: The 3D volumetric interpolated breath-hold whole-body MR imaging examination for metastases screening correlates well with CT and scintigraphy. The use of the rolling table platform permits rapid whole-body imaging in an average of 11 min.

MR colonography with barium-based fecal tagging: initial clinical experience.

Purpose: To assess a strategy for fecal tagging with barium sulfate as an inexpensive tagging agent in conjunction with magnetic resonance (MR) colonography in patients suspected of having colorectal lesions.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-four patients suspected of having colonic lesions because of rectal bleeding, positive fecal occult blood test results, or altered bowel habits underwent MR colonography and subsequent conventional colonoscopy. A 200-mL dose of a barium sulfate-containing contrast agent was ingested with each of four low-fiber meals, beginning 36 hours before the examination.