[3D-MRT-reconstructions of space-occupying lesions in the head and neck regions]

3-D reconstructions in the head and neck were carried out on 21 normals and 11 patients with space-occupying lesions, both before and after the administration of Gd-DTPA. The 3-D reconstructions were obtained by the "ray-tracing" method. For the 3-D reconstructions, portions of the skull surface image were removed to permit views of the deeper tissues. The 3-D reconstructions included an hypoglossus neurinoma, a glomus tumour, two carcinomas of the maxillary antra, three naso-pharyngeal carcinomas, a parotid adenoma, an oro-pharyngeal haemangioma and two lesions in the neck. The 3-D reconstructions provided a better understanding of the morphology than was obtained from the two-dimensional images. 3-D reconstructions of lesions in the head and neck will become a valuable diagnostic method for demonstrating space-occupying lesions, particularly with regard to surgical planning.