Whole body MRI for detecting metastatic bone tumor: comparison with bone scintigrams.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the effectiveness of whole body MRI (WB-MRI [magnetic resonance imaging]) and bone scintigram (BS) at detecting bone metastasis.


METHODS
WB-MRI was performed on 16 patients for detecting bone metastasis (6 breast carcinoma, 7 prostatic carcinoma, 1 renal cell carcinoma [RCC], 1 hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC], and 1 primary unknown). BS was also performed in all cases. Patients were placed on a table top extender (Philips Medical Systems). The maximal longitudinal field of view (FOV) was 200 cm. At first, the total spine was imaged in the sagittal plane with a three-station approach for two image sets (fast spin-echo [SE] T1-weighted images [T1WI] and short tau inversion recovery [STIR] images). The whole body was then imaged in the coronal plane with a seven-station approach for two image sets (fast field echo [FFE] T1WI and STIR). Total examination time, including patient positioning, was within 40 min. Three independent radiologists interpreted the imaging data.


RESULTS
WB-MRI identified 5 cases of 24 lesions as bone metastasis, while BS identified 3 cases of 25 lesions. Concordance between WB-MRI and BS was seen in 3 cases of 22 lesions (81%). For two cases of 2 lesions, which were identified only with WB-MRI, the lesions were located in the sacrum and thoracic spine. For one case of 3 lesions, which was identified only with BS, the lesions were located in the skull and rib.


CONCLUSIONS
WB-MRI was an excellent method for screening bone metastasis, especially the vertebral body.
Nakanishi
Katsuyuki
K
Department of Radiology, Osaka Seamen's Insurance Hospital, 1-8-30 Chikko, Osaka 552-0021, Japan. je2k-nkns@asahi-net.or.jp
Kobayashi
Midori
M
Takahashi
Satoru
S
Nakata
Saki
S
Kyakuno
Miyaji
M
Nakaguchi
Kazunori
K
Nakamura
Hironobu
H
D000368:Aged; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000379:methods*