title: Lung MRI of invasive fungal infection at 3 Tesla: evaluation of five different pulse sequences and comparison with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the diagnostic performance of five MR sequences to detect pulmonary infectious lesions in patients with invasive fungal infection (IFI), using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) as the reference standard.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-four immunocompromised patients with suspected IFI underwent MDCT and MRI. The MR studies were performed using five pulse sequences at 3.0 T: T2-weighted turbo spin echo (TSE), short-tau inversion recovery (STIR), spectrally selective attenuated inversion recovery (SPAIR), T1-weighted high resolution isotropic volume excitation (e-THRIVE) and T1-weighted fast field echo (T1-FFE). The size, lesion-to-lung contrast ratio and the detectability of pulmonary lesions on MR images were assessed. Image quality and artefacts on different sequences were also rated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 84 lesions including nodules (n = 44) and consolidation (n = 40) were present in 75 lobes. SPAIR and e-THRIVE images achieved high overall lesion-related sensitivities for the detection of pulmonary abnormalities (90.5% and 86.9%, respectively). STIR showed the highest lesion-to-lung contrast ratio for nodules (21.8) and consolidation (17.0), whereas TSE had the fewest physiological artefacts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MRI at 3.0 T can depict clinically significant pulmonary IFI abnormalities with high accuracy compared to MDCT. SPAIR and e-THRIVE are preferred sequences for the detection of infectious lesions of 5 mm and larger.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  • A radiation-free radiological method is desirable for assessing pulmonary infectious lesions • MRI at 3 T can depict lung infiltrates with good concordance to MDCT • SPAIR and e-THRIVE are favourable sequences for the detection of pulmonary lesions • The greatest benefit is for the diagnosis of lesions larger than 5 mm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, No. 1838 Guangzhou Avenue North, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chenggong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Xiangliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Ru
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Caixia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yuankui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Queenie
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yikai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016477:Artifacts; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult