J Korean Soc Radiol.  2019 May;80(3):466-476. 10.3348/jksr.2019.80.3.466.

Morphologic Evaluation of Primary Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer by 3 Tesla MRI with Free-Breathing Ultrashort Echo Time and Radial T1-Weighted Gradient Echo Sequences: A Comparison with CT Analysis

• Lee H
• Choi E
• Lee MK
• Zhang Y
• Kwon W

• KMID: 2454026
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/jksr.2019.80.3.466

Abstract

PURPOSE
To evaluate morphologic features of primary non-small cell lung cancer using 3 Tesla MRI with free-breathing compared with CT.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Thirty-six patients were enrolled. A 64-channel multidetector CT and 3 Tesla MRI with ultrashort echo time pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA) and radial volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) were compared in size, shape, margin, internal characteristics, and tumor interface of primary tumor.
RESULTS
There were no significant differences in tumor size between CT and either PETRA or radial VIBE (p = 0.054 and p = 0.764, respectively). Kappa (κ) statistics of shape, margin, and internal characteristics were respectively κ = 0.86, 0.65, 0.77 on PETRA and κ = 0.93, 0.84, 0.83 on radial VIBE compared with CT. PETRA and radial VIBE revealed clearer interface compared with CT (p = 0.000 and p < 0.000, respectively). Radial VIBE showed higher frequency of clear interface (94.4%) than PETRA (88.9%). MRI did not show significantly clear interface which was located in lung base (p = 0.363 on PETRA and p = 0.175 on radial VIBE) compared with CT.
CONCLUSION
MRI with PETRA and radial VIBE sequences can be a feasible method to evaluate morphologic features of primary non-small cell lung cancer compared with CT.

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung*
Diagnostic Imaging
Humans
Lung
Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
Methods

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Flow chart illustrating patient selection. Among 42 patients with solid lung nodules or masses that were prospectively enrolled, 6 were excluded, resulting in a total of 36 patients with non-small cell lung cancer that were included in the study.

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  Fig. 2 Contrast-enhanced axial chest CT (A), PETRA (B), and radial VIBE (C) images from a 44-year-old woman with adenocarcinoma in right upper lobe. Arrows indicate intratumoral bubble-like lucency. PETRA = pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition, VIBE = volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination

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  Fig. 3 Contrast-enhanced axial chest CT (A), PETRA (B), and radial VIBE (C) images from a 78-year-old man with squamous cell carcinoma in left lower lobe. In (A), the mass's interface (arrow) shows obliterated relationship with adjacent chest wall on CT. However, on MRI, the tumor interface with the pleura (arrows, B, C) is clear. This is well-recognized in (C) rather than (B). This mass underwent operation and was proven to have no parietal pleural invasion. PETRA = pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition, VIBE = volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination

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  Fig. 4 Coronal reformatted images of contrast-enhanced chest CT (A), PETRA (B), and radial VIBE (C) images from a 65-year-old man with adenocarcinoma in right lower lobe base. An irregular nodule (arrow) with contact with the adjacent diaphragm is apparent in (A). However the nodule (arrows) is not apparent in (B, C). PETRA = pointwise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition, VIBE = volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination

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