title: Whole-body MRI vs. CT for staging lymphoma: patient experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess and compare patient experience of whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to that of computed tomography (CT) for staging newly diagnosed lymphoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 36 patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma prospectively underwent whole-body MRI and CT for staging purposes. Patients were asked to fill in a short questionnaire with regard to the burden and experience of the examination on a Likert scale (range 1-4). Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to determine statistically significant differences in patient (dis)comfort between the two examinations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients reported to be significantly (P=0.007) less worried before undergoing whole-body MRI compared to CT. Patients also experienced whole-body MRI as significantly (P=0.010) less unpleasant and felt significantly (P=0.003) better shortly after the scan. The necessary preparations before CT scanning (i.e. insertion of intravenous line, drinking of contrast fluid), which are not required for whole-body MRI, were reported to be a considerable burden.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study in patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma, whole-body MRI was experienced as a more patient-friendly technique than CT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hugo J A
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: thomaskwee@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Kwee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Malou A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Vermoolen
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marc B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Bierings
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rutger A J
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Nievelstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology; D009426:Netherlands; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D051598:Whole Body Imaging / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: CT; Lymphoma; Patient experience; Whole-body MRI