title: Whole-body nuclear magnetic resonance imaging: the first report of its use in surgical practice.
abstract: This is the first report of whole-body nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging being of value in clinical surgery. Following aortobifemoral grafting, a 54-year-old man developed a pyrexia and hypotension which did not respond to antibiotic therapy and which was thought to be caused by early graft infection. Whole-body NMR imaging showed the graft and iliac arteries to be normal and an empyema of the gallbladder to be present, NMR imaging is a safe, non-invasive technique for imaging the body in transverse sections and specifically measures the water concentration of tissues, enabling normal and inflamed tissues to be differentiated.
mesh_terms: D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000601:surgery; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D004653:Empyema / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000601:surgery; D005705:Gallbladder Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D014054:Tomography / Q000379:methods*