MRI of the heart, mediastinum and great vessels

MRI permits to study the anatomical structures of the heart and great vessels without cardiac catheterization or contrast injections. It aims to differentiate trachea and bronchia from the mediastinal lymph nodes. In mediastinal tumours, MRI supplies essential information for the planning of therapy. Only in the area of the structures adjacent to the diaphragm, an improvement of the images by means of additional respiratory gating is desirable.