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Review
. 2023 Jun 20;15(12):3261.
doi: 10.3390/cancers15123261.

Pleural Neoplasms-What Could MRI Change?

Michał Szczyrek  1 , Paulina Bitkowska  1 , Marta Jutrzenka  2 , Aneta Szudy-Szczyrek  3 , Anna Drelich-Zbroja  4 , Janusz Milanowski  1
Affiliations
Review

Pleural Neoplasms-What Could MRI Change?

Michał Szczyrek et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

The primary pleural neoplasms constitute around 10% of the pleural tumors. The currently recommended method for their imaging is CT which has been shown to have certain limitations. Strong development of the MRI within the last two decades has provided us with a number of sequences that could potentially be superior to CT when it comes to the pleural malignancies' detection and characterization. This literature review discusses the possible applications of the MRI as a diagnostic tool in patients with pleural neoplasms. Although selected MRI techniques have been shown to have a number of advantages over CT, further research is required in order to confirm the obtained results, broaden our knowledge on the topic, and pinpoint the sequences most optimal for pleural imaging, as well as the best methods for reading and analysis of the obtained data.

Keywords: MRI; chest MRI; pleura; pleural imaging; pleural neoplasms; pleural tumors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
MR images indicate thickening/consolidation within the dorsal aspect of right pleural cavity, consistent with mesothelioma. Pre- (A) and post-contrast (B) T1-weighted vibe axial images with fat saturation depict vividly enhancing lesion, with apparent signs of diffusion restriction on high b-value (b = 800) DWI images (C) and complimentary ADC maps (D).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Images of a 70-year-old male patient with colorectal cancer. Focal lesion (meta) adjacent to the dorsal pleura at the base of the left lung. T2-weighted (A), TIRM (B), and DWI b = 800 (C) axial images.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Images of a 70-year-old male patient with colorectal cancer. Focal lesion (meta) adjacent to the dorsal pleura at the base of the left lung. T2-weighted (A), TIRM (B), and DWI b = 800 (C) axial images.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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