[The further development of the 3D-MRI reconstruction technic for the head-neck area]

Twenty-one healthy volunteers and seventeen patients with head and neck lesions were examined with 3D MR imaging since the end of 1988. A new kind of reconstruction mode was used, which shows the structures of the region of interest by overlaying a predetermined window within the three-dimensional reconstruction of the head. Using this mode, the morphology of the lesion could be evaluated more precisely than by using individual two-dimensional slices. With regard to preoperative surgery planning, the previous results were insufficient. With the new development and increased capacity of the MRI-technique and improvement of the reconstruction mode it is now possible to "cut" several slices in different orientations into the head achieving higher resolution of the images. The innovation of the method and its actual clinical value is discussed in the example of a meningioma of the sphenoid which has been examined by both reconstruction modes.