Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Thoracic Malignancies

The role of magnetic resonant imaging (MRI) in the assessment of thoracic malignancies has become more established over the past decade. MRI benefits from excellent tissue contrast, multiplanar tissue acquisition, dynamic assessment of blood flow, differentiation of tumor from other abnormal tissue with diffusion imaging, and lack of ionizing radiation. However, the application of MRI in intrinsic lung disease has been limited by signal distortion induced from breathing, lack of protons in the lung parenchyma, and magnetic field inhomogeneity. These limitations are yet to be overcome by improved pulse sequences less sensitive to breathing and improved hardware. The current indications for use of MRI in thoracic malignancies include characterization and staging of mediastinal tumors, pleural tumors, chest wall tumors, and superior sulcus tumors; functional assessment of diaphragm; and assessment of pulmonary vasculature and cardiac function in preparation for surgery.