Cine magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography and ultrasonography in the evaluation of chest wall invasion of lung cancer.

PURPOSE To assess the usefulness of cine-magnetic resonance imaging (cine-MRI)in the evaluation of chest wall invasion, we compared the results of cine-MRI with those of computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (US). MATERIALS AND METHODS Eleven patients were examined who had no pain and who were difficult to diagnose by routine examinations. MRI was performed with a Magnetom SP/4000, 1.5T unit (Siemens, Germany). For cine imaging, continuous turbo-FLUSH (ultra fast low angle shot) images were obtained at an orthogonal section to the chest wall during slow deep breathing. A CT scan was performed using a TCT 900S or Super Helix (Toshiba, Japan) at 1 cm intervals, with section thicknesses of 1 cm throughout the entire chest. US was performed with a model SSA-270A (Toshiba, Japan) with 7.5-MHz linear array scanners (PLF-705S; Toshiba, Japan). RESULTS Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 67%, 75% and 73% for cine MRI, 67%, 63% and 64% for CT, 33%, 75% and 64% for US, respectively. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that cine MRI is potentially useful for the diagnosis of chest wall invasion of lung cancer.