Staging of malignant lymphoma with three-station black-blood fast short-inversion time inversion recovery (STIR).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of three-station black-blood fast short-inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) imaging in detecting and staging malignant lymphoma.

Methods: Seventeen patients with malignant lymphoma were examined with a 1.5T imager. The findings and stagings determined with three-station black-blood fast STIR imaging were compared with reference standards (e.g., computed tomography [CT] findings and clinical stagings).

Results: Three-station black-blood fast STIR imaging provided a fat-suppressed T2-weighted imaging contrast with fewer flow artifacts and revealed nodal involvement as well as bone marrow and spleen involvement to an extent comparable with CT. Especially notable was the excellent specificity (94%) of this imaging technique. Regarding disease staging, significant agreement was observed between clinical staging (k=0.60) and staging as evaluated by three-station black-blood fast STIR, although the detection of lymphadenopathy in the thorax was relatively poor. The average time required for this imaging was approximately 30 min.

Conclusion: Three-station black-blood fast STIR MR imaging may be useful as a staging tool for malignant lymphoma because this imaging technique reveals lymphoma lesions, which determine the staging, without radiation exposure or the use of contrast agents.