title: Use of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of nasopharyngeal cancer.
abstract: Computerised tomographic (CT) scanning is an established modality in the diagnosis and evaluation of tumours of the nasopharynx. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a newer tool which has rapidly gained acceptance in the same regard due to its innate ability to better characterise and detail soft tissue structures, and its multiplanar scanning ability. This study reviews our experience, in a series of 30 cases, with the use of MR imaging in lesions of the nasopharynx, in particular nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Most of our patients showed involvement of the pharyngeal mucosal and parapharyngeal spaces, as expected. A large number also had intracranial extension. Our sample was probably biased as patients with neurological involvement are more likely to be assessed by MR than CT. Soft tissue infiltration, particularly intracranial extension, was very clearly delineated, especially when intravenous contrast (gadolinium DTPA) was administered. Bone erosion was not well demonstrated. In current clinical practice where radiotherapy is the most common form of treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma however, there does not in general, appear to be any clear advantage of MR over CT in the imaging of this particular disease, although there are some exceptions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mt Elizabeth Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kwok
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed