RESUMEN
A clinical dilemma in patients with cystic fibrosis is the determination of the nature of linear areas of decreased aeration in the lungs. It is difficult using chest roentgenograms or even computed tomography to differentiate atelectasis, mucoid impacted bronchi, or peribronchial inflammatory disease from normal pulmonary vascularity. Magnetic resonance imaging is a noninvasive sensitive means that provides the distinction. Pulmonary vessels are easily identified, because with the spin-echo sequence that we use, the rapidly flowing blood within the vessels has no signal intensity. In contradistinction, mucoid-impacted bronchi appear as high-intensity linear branching structures. Peribronchial inflammatory disease appears as curvilinear areas of high intensity, representing inflammatory edema, around central lucencies representing bronchi.
Asunto(s)
Fibrosis Quística/diagnóstico , Espectroscopía de Resonancia Magnética , Adolescente , Adulto , Niño , Fibrosis Quística/diagnóstico por imagen , Fibrosis Quística/patología , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Páncreas/diagnóstico por imagen , Páncreas/patología , Radiografía Torácica , Tomografía Computarizada por Rayos XRESUMEN
Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of the hydrogen nucleus provides a unique noninvasive display of proton dynamics in biologic tissues and fluids as well as internal anatomy in a sectional imaging format. No ionizing radiation is utilized. Our experience with NMR imaging of the brain in 14 pediatric patients is presented and compared with computed tomography. The major advantages of NMR over CT include its greater sensitivity to blood flow, edema, hemorrhage, and myelinization and its lack of beam-hardening artifacts. In addition, the potential for tissue characterization exists by determination of T1 and T2 relaxation times and of mobile proton density. Disadvantages of NMR over CT include its failure to demonstrate calcification and bone detail and longer data acquisition times.