Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 17, 2026
Three-Dimensional Phase Resolved Functional Lung Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: June 21, 2024
Diagnostic Utility of 3T Lung MRI in Children with Interstitial Lung Disease: A Prospective Pilot Study
Kushaljit Singh Sodhi1, Madhurima Sharma1, Edward Y Lee2
1Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, PGIMER, Sector-12, Chandigarh, 160012, India.
Insights
3-tesla MRI shows high specificity but low sensitivity for detecting interstitial lung disease in children. While effective for some findings like consolidation, it has limitations in identifying other ILD indicators compared to HRCT.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Pediatric Imaging
- Pulmonology
Background:
- Interstitial lung disease (ILD) in children presents diagnostic challenges.
- High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is the current standard for ILD detection.
- The role of 3-tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in pediatric ILD requires further evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the diagnostic utility of 3T lung MRI for detecting ILD in pediatric patients.
- To compare the performance of 3T lung MRI against HRCT in identifying ILD-related lung abnormalities.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study enrolled twelve children diagnosed with ILD.
- Both HRCT and 3T lung MRI were performed within a 2-day interval for each patient.
- Sensitivity, specificity, and agreement (kappa coefficient) were calculated, using HRCT as the reference standard.
Main Results:
- 3T lung MRI demonstrated high specificity (97.33%) but low sensitivity (66.67%) for ILD detection compared to HRCT.
- The technique showed 100% sensitivity for consolidation, parenchymal bands, and fissural thickening.
- Sensitivity was lower for septal thickening (50%), ground-glass opacity (50%), nodules (66.67%), and cysts (25%).
- Substantial agreement was observed between HRCT and 3T lung MRI (k=0.7).
Conclusions:
- 3T lung MRI can effectively detect certain ILD abnormalities like consolidation, parenchymal bands, and fissural thickening in children.
- The diagnostic performance of 3T lung MRI is limited for evaluating septal thickening, ground-glass opacity, nodules, and cysts.
- Routine MRI protocols may be useful for specific ILD findings in pediatric patients, complementing HRCT.
Rationale And Objectives:
The objective of this study was to assess the diagnostic utility of 3-tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of lungs in the detection of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in pediatric patients.
Materials And Methods:
Twelve children (mean: 8.5 years, range: 4-12 years) with ILD were consecutively enrolled in this prospective study. HRCT and 3T lung MRI were performed in all patients within 2 days of each other. The sensitivity, the specificity, the positive predictive value, and the negative predictive value of detecting lung abnormalities related to ILD with 3T lung MRI were calculated, with high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) as a standard of reference. Agreement between HRCT and 3T lung MRI, as well as between two reviewers, was calculated with the kappa coefficient.
Results:
3T lung MRI had low sensitivity (66.67%) and high specificity (97.33%) in the detection of abnormalities related to ILD when compared to HRCT in children. Although 3T lung MRI performed well in the detection of consolidation, parenchymal bands and fissural thickening with a sensitivity of 100%, the sensitivity of 3T lung MRI in the detection of septal thickening, ground-glass opacity, nodules, and cysts was relatively low (50.0%, 50.0%, 66.67%, and 25.0%, respectively). Substantial agreement was seen between HRCT and 3T lung MRI (k = 0.7), whereas perfect agreement was seen between two reviewers in detecting abnormalities related to pediatric ILD (k = 0.9-1.0).
Conclusions:
In comparison to HRCT, 3T lung MRI with routinely available MRI protocols and sequences can also well detect abnormalities such as consolidation, parenchymal bands, and fissural thickening in children with ILD. However, evaluation of septal thickening, ground-glass opacity, nodules, and cysts is limited with 3T lung MRI.
More Related Videos
02:09Multi-modal Pulmonary Imaging: Using Complementary Information from CT and Hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI to Evaluate Lung Structure-Function
Published on: April 12, 2024
05:56Author Spotlight: Enhancing Diagnostic Strategies and Biomarker Development for Comprehensive Lung Function Analysis
Published on: August 9, 2024
