title: Thoracic magnetic resonance imaging for the evaluation of pulmonary emphysema.
abstract: Pulmonary emphysema is a pathologic condition characterized by permanently enlarged airspaces distal to the terminal bronchiole with destruction of the alveolar walls. Functional information of the lungs is important to understand the pathophysiology of emphysema and that of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. With the recent developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques, functional MRI with variable MR sequences can be used for the evaluation of different physiological and anatomic changes seen in cases of pulmonary emphysema. In this review article, we will focus on a brief description of each method, results of some of the most recent work, and the clinical application of such knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joon Beom
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Hye Jeon
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Eun Young
authors.initials: EY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Ji-Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends*; D011656:Pulmonary Emphysema / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology