Advances in whole body MRI for musculoskeletal imaging: Diffusion-weighted imaging

Publication date: Available online 29 May 2019Source: Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and TraumaAuthor(s): Koeun Lee, Ho Young Park, Kyung Won Kim, Amy Junghyun Lee, Min A. Yoon, Eun Jin Chae, Jeong Hyun Lee, Hye Won ChungAbstractRecent advances in imaging technology have enabled the acquisition of anatomical and functional imaging from head to toe in a reasonably short scan time. Accordingly, whole body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) and diffusion-weighted imaging (WB-DWI) have gained recent attention for the management of musculoskeletal problems such as bone tumors and rheumatologic diseases. WB-MRI is especially useful in diagnosing systemic or widespread disease requiring whole body evaluation, such as bone metastases, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, neurofibromatosis, and spondyloarthropathies. Among WB-MRI sequences, the WB-DWI technique greatly increases the value of WB-MRI in the evaluation of disease extent and characterization as well as treatment monitoring. In support of the utilization of WB-MRI and WB-DWI in orthopedic clinics for various musculoskeletal diseases, we provide an overview of the technical aspects of WB-MRI and WB-DWI and their clinical applications in musculoskeletal tumors and rheumatic diseases.
Source: Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics and Trauma - Category: Orthopaedics Source Type: research