Inclined coronal scans in thoracic MR imaging.
To determine the value of inclined coronal MR in diagnosing thoracic abnormalities, the multiscan coronal and inclined coronal spin echo MR images of 4 normal subjects and 10 patients with thoracic abnormalities were reviewed. The major airway such as trachea, main bronchi and lobar bronchi, left atrium and its junctions with pulmonary veins required less slices for visualization on inclined coronal images than on standard coronal images, and these normal structures and the lesions located in this region were easy to evaluate in several cases. The left pulmonary artery, especially the upper and lower lobe branches were better visualized on inclined coronal images. The pericardium and the other great vessels were equally visualized on inclined and on standard coronal images. There was no case in which normal structures or lesions were more difficult to demonstrate on inclined coronal images compared with standard coronal images. We conclude that an inclined coronal MR scan of the thorax is valuable to evaluate the mediastinal structures and lesions, especially in diagnosing the abnormalities of the airway, left atrium and its junctions with pulmonary veins.
Ikezoe
J
J
Department of Radiology, Osaka University Medical School, Japan.
Takeuchi
N
N
Harada
K
K
Kozuka
T
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002283:Carcinoma, Bronchogenic / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D012016:Reference Values; D013899:Thoracic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*