Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in differentiation between normal and neoplastic lung tissue

The aim of the study was to look for a difference between normal and neoplastic lung tissue by means of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in vitro. A 2.l Tesla intensity spectrometer was used. From 23 pneumonectomized patients, two samples from the lung were taken immediately after surgery: one from the center of the neoplasm, one from the healty surrounding tissue; on each of them Tl relaxation time was measured. Twenty patients out of 23 had a higher Tl relaxation time in the pathologic tissue than in the healty surrounding tissue; only in 3 cases the Tl of neoplastic tissue was lower than that of the healty tissue. A correlation was also sought between the Tl value and the histologic type of the neoplasm. In epidermoid, the Tl relaxation time increased with the malignity of the neoplasm