title: The role of magnetic resonance for assessing radiation-induced lung damage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the potential role of Magnetic Resonance for assessing radiation-Induced lung damage.
  
  
  METHODS
  T1 and T2 relaxation times were measured for lungs excised from Sprague-Dawley rats at various times following thoracic irradiation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although on average a 10% increase was observed in the T2 relaxation times between 30 and 80 days after irradiation, this is too small to affect image contrast.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that relaxation measurements are unlikely to yield new information to characterize changes in lung tissue caused by radiation.
authors.affiliation: Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Newcomb
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Dyk
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011833:Radiation Injuries, Experimental / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley