Body MR imaging

Abstract

BodyMR imaging applications continue to grow at a rapid pace. In our hospital, the number of examinations performed is limited primarily by the number of MR scanners available. Body MR imaging continues to be one of the largest areas of growth in terms of the percentage of examinations performed. Fellows applying for training in diagnostic imaging are highly interested in body MR imaging facilities at various hospitals and consider body MR imaging as a leading reason for selecting their fellowship programs. Traditional textbooks on the subject, however, have difficulty keeping pace with the rapidly changing nature of imaging in this field. It is for these reasons that this issue of the Radiologic Clinics of North America focuses on body MR imaging applications. Recently, outstanding advances in body MR methods have resulted in an increase in the use of MR for patients with a variety of suspected diseases. For example, new contrast agents are now available for use in hepatic imaging, and advanced clinical trials for intravascular contrast agents are taking place. Faster pulse sequences that result in improved image quality with higher resolution are available; these have helped to control problems of motion in the chest and abdomen. Entirely new applications that barely existed several years ago, such as MR cholangiopancreatography, adrenal, and breast MR imaging, are widely requested by referring physicians. Cardiac MR imaging is of great interest and is developing rapidly. The complexity of these newer applications remains a challenge for both radiologists and technologists, because comprehensive information is usually not readily available in the literature. Increasingly, referring physicians or patients themselves are requesting the latest MR methods and applications from radiologists. For these reasons, an issue devoted to body MR imaging should serve to update both the practicing clinician and academician on a wide range of established and novel methods. The authors chosen for these articles are experienced in their fields and have a broad range of expertise. This is a unique opportunity to present an up-to-date summary of the most widely applied applications in body MR imaging. I would like to thank all of the authors for their outstanding efforts to assemble this issue of the Radiologic Clinics of North America. In addition, I wish to thank Barton Dudlick for the support he provided to me as this issue was being planned and prepared. It is my hope that readers will find this issue a valuable resource in their current practice.