[Early clinical experience with nuclear magnetic resonance (author's transl)]

Previous work on adults with carcinomas, benign polyps, postoperative changes or inflammatory or radiation induced swellings in the facial skeleton has shown that it is possible to demonstrate the local anatomy, and particularly the orbits and sinuses without subjecting the patients to radiation. Differentiation between fat, oedema and malignant tissue appears to be possible, as has been demonstrated by our early cases. Early attempts at examining the trunk could only be carried out in infants. These suggest that in the thorax and abdomen differentiation of anatomical structures is not possible. The value of nuclear magnetic resonance in clinical diagnosis is still uncertain. Its advantage depends on the ability to differentiate tissues because of their varying water content. It raises the possibility of differentiating soft tissues by a non-invasive method and without using radiation. Further investigations are necessary in order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of the new technique. The physical basis of the method, compared with conventional radiology, permits only guarded optimism.