Post-pneumonectomy evaluation of the chest: a prospective comparative study of MRI with CT

A comparative study of 11 pneumonectomized patients was undertaken in order to evaluate the respective advantages and drawbacks of MRI and CT in post-operative follow-up. Nine patients were healthy at the time of the study and two presented with tumor recurrence. MR examination included 500/40 ms axial, and frontal 800/40-80 ms or 1300/60-120 ms nongated spin echo sequences. MRI was slightly more efficient in identifying vascular stump and main nodal stations, and detected better than CT tumoral and metastatic spread in cancer recurrences. It was as informative as CT in evaluating postpneumonectomy space and bronchial stump. It was noncontributory in the detection of calcifications. Although clips were visible with MRI, their location was less definite than with CT, a potential pitfall when radiotherapy is planned.