Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for the detection of the invasion into neighboring structures in esophageal cancers

In 104 patients with esophageal cancers, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was performed to detect the invasion to aorta and tracheobronchial tree. Relatively short TR images (TR 300 or 40 msec) were best for depiction of esophageal cancers and neighboring structures. The detectability of esophageal cancer was 0% in cases of muscularis mucosa invasion, 50% in cases of submucosa invasion, and 75% in cases of muscularis propria invasion. In more invaded cases, all cases were detectable. Aortic invasion was evaluated according to the extent of contact and its consecutiveness between the esophagus and aorta; if contact more than 1/4 circumference was seen more than three contiguous slices, aortic invasion was diagnosed as positive. The accuracy rate of this criterion was 96.6%. Tracheobronchial invasion was evaluated according to the deformities of the trachea and bronchi by contiguous cancers those were classified into four types; It was determined that convex type (Type I) and flat type (Type II) were negative, and concave type (Type III) and displaced type (Type IV) were positive. The accuracy rates of this criteria were 95% in the trachea and 87.7% in the bronchi. MRI is useful for the detection of local invasion of esophageal cancer. (author)