Magnetic resonance imaging of abdominal and pelvic lymphadenopathy

The authors report their experience with magnetic resonance imaging (MR) in 20 patients with CT-proved lymphadenopathy of the abdomen and pelvis. Signal intensity from abnormal nodes was intermediate between fat and muscle (T1 longer than fat and muscle; T2 equal to or slightly shorter than fat but longer than muscle) and was shown best in the spin-echo mode with a TR of 900 msec. and a TE of 30 msec. Abnormal nodes were identified by their increased size and other morphological changes rather than by tissue characteristics established by signal intensity information. Lymphadenopathy due to lymphoma could not be differentiated from that due to metastases. MR detected all lymphadenopathy originally documented by CT and in addition easily distinguished blood vessels from lymph nodes; on the other hand, CT offered better spatial resolution and could be completed in less time.