MRI in Thoracic Malignancy

Early reports established a role for MRI in the investigation of thoracic malignancy. Gamsu et a I (1) showed two main advantages over CT in the mediastinum: ease in distinguishing between lymph nodes and vascular structures and very high contrast between lesions and fatty tissue. The ability to scan in any desired plane is also an advantage. If direct comparison with chest X-rays is desired the coronal plane can be very useful (Figure 2). If comparison with CT is necessary, the transverse plane is indicated (Figures 6, 7, 10 and 11). The sagittal plane can be difficult to interpret in the chest but is the most useful plane for studying the spine. Cardiac gating (2) enables clearer images to be obtained and cardiovascular abnormalities, such as aneurysms, to be distinguished from neoplasia. Ungated scans are, however, much quicker to perform than gated