Magnetic resonance imaging of the lymph nodes: comparison with CT

This retrospective study of 144 patients was made to (a) assess the potential of magnetic resonance (MR) for demonstrating lymph nodes using spin-echo technique, (b) compare the MR results with those of CT, and (c) determine the optimal pulse-delay time (TE) for imaging lymph nodes. The reported CT findings on normal lymph nodes were compared with MR findings in 60 patients who underwent MR imaging of the neck, chest, and pelvis for conditions other than lymph node disease. The results showed that CT is presently better than MR for imaging neck and abdominal lymph nodes less than 13 mm in diameter. In addition, MR scans of 84 patients with proven abnormal lymph nodes were assessed. MR and CT gave similar results with abnormal lymph nodes, but MR displayed these nodes better because of its excellent soft-tissue contrast resolution. Preliminary results indicate that MR holds great promise for the demonstration of lymph nodes in every part of the body