Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-CT in otorhinolaryngology

Abstract

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)-CT rapidly developed recently and is regarded as a very useful method of evaluation for the diagnosis of various disorders. Many reports for NMR-CT are published in these three years, but few report concerning the otorhinolaryngological disorders in seen. In this report, the applicability of NMR-CT for otorhinolaryngology is discussed.NMR-CT scans were performed in 60 patients with a variable scope of otorhinolaryngological disorders and the results were compared with X-ray CT scans. BNT 1000J scanner (Bruke, West Germany) with Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (GPMG) pulse sequence was used in this study.In lesions of nose and paranasal sinus, NMR-CT with CPMG pulse sequence proved to be very useful for the differential diagnosis between tumors and inflammations or other lesions (e. g. aspergillosis). NMR-CT was also useful in other head and neck disorders. Malignant tumors (cancer, malignant lymphoma and malignant melanoma) showed almost equal proton density, T1, T2 to those of the brain. In the small lesions, however, such as acoustic neurinoma in its early stage, NMR-CT gave less contribution than X-ray CT.Advantages of NMR-CT over X-ray CT include specific sensitivity to pathologic changes, feasibility for arbitrary planes for slices, lack of bone artifact and no known hazard to living subjects. More detailed evaluation is awaited, but NMR-CT seems to be an important battery to the conventional armamentum for image diagnosis.