Detection of Soft-Tissue and Skeletal Infections with Ultra Low-Field (0.02 T) MR Imaging

Abstract

To evaluate the use of ultra low-field (0.02 T) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal infection, MR examinations with T2 weighted sequences were performed in 61 patients thought to be suffering from one of four major diagnostic categories: Soft-tissue abscesses (n=22), osteomyelitis (n=21), septic arthritis (n=9) and spondylitis (n=9). Infection was confirmed for 37 of these 61 patients. The verified abscesses, arthritis, spondylitis and acute osteomyelitis could be detected by 0.02 T MR. The sensitivity was poor in cases of chronic osteomyelitis. There was one false positive finding in a patient with a possible soft tissue infection. The 0.02 T MR examination failed four times. Two patients were too heavy and another 2 patients had magnetic material in or near the scanning field. Compared with computed tomography and isotope scanning, 0.02 T MR proved a little more informative, but without any statistical significance.

Low-Field MR Imaging — Development in Finland

“…Because the Tl of water is not field dependent, the Tl contrast between lesions with an increased water content and adjacent normal tissue will be improved as B 0 de creases. Low-field MR imaging has demonstrated good diagnostic capability in detection of hemato mas and infections (6). As an example, the visuali zation of a liver abscess with a T2-weighted image at 0.02 T is presented in Fig.…”

Low-Field MR Imaging for the Assessment of Therapy Response in Musculoskeletal Infections

“…MR imaging has been used with success in the evaluation of musculoskeletal infections (3,4,10,18). It is especially useful in cases of osteomyelitis associated with soft-tissue infection or preexisting bone pathology because of its better ability to demonstrate anatomic details than scintigraphic methods (2,19).…”