Abbreviated Reports MR Imaging of Pontine Tuberculoma

measurements of body temperature and local surface temperature , Our primary concern was acceptance by the patient. As mentioned in the article, the thermistor probe does behave as an RF receiver and cannot be used during RF exposure. The thermistor was not connected to the electronic circuit until approximately 1 min after each exposure, and the thermistor had a thermal response of T1 /2 of approximately 1 sec. We never observed a rapid decrease in temperature during the measurements, and patients never reported that the thermistor felt warm (as they did when the thermistor was connected to the circuitry). We certainly agree that continuous monitoring of surface and core temperature should be performed, but we did not have access to that technology. The environmental temperature was maintained between 20.0°C and 24.4°C, and air flow was maintained in the scanner by a fan. Humidity was not monitored , but conditions always were considered comfortable. To minimize the impact of changes in environmental temperature on our data, we used the prescan measurements as a baseline. The head coil was used for the head scans and, as suggested, should not have contributed to axi llary surface heating. Even the body scans should not have contributed significantly to axillary surface temperature as the RF pulses were positioned over the lower half of the abdomen. The purpose of the study was to look for clinically significant changes. We thought that small, transient changes in local surface temperatures were not of clinical significance, and we were interested primarily in sustained increases in "body" temperature. It is unlikely that increases in local surface temperature are important as patients did not report local sensations of heat or burning. The data from Schaefer and our study are consistent in that neither study shows Clinically significant changes in temperature. The data in Fig. 1 are plotted to three significant figures. Because the experimental accuracy was only 0.1 °C, the numerical values in Table 2 were rounded off to the nearest 0.1 °C. We agree with Dr. Shellock that further studies should be performed , especially if more sophisticated monitoring capabilities are available to that group.