Magnetic resonance imaging of the head and neck.

Abstract

Magnetic resonance (MR) has revolutionized head and neck imaging and has replaced computed tomography (CT) as the imaging study of choice for many lesions of the extracranial head and neck. MR easily surpasses CT in its ability to differentiate subtle differences in soft tissue boundaries in the head and neck. The beam-hardening artifacts on CT images from dental amalgam and dense cortical bone of the mandible, skull base, shoulders, and other areas are also not a problem with MR imaging. Multiplanar imaging capabilities and lack of ionizing radiation make MR the most suitable imaging technique for many diseases of the head and neck. Although CT is still essential for nonneoplastic diseases in the paranasal sinuses, inflammatory or congenital diseases in the temporal bone, and abscess search for the neck, MR is the study of choice for most head and neck tumors [1–3]. Now open MR scanners make MR even more accessible to patients with suspected pathology of the head and neck.