Solitary pulmonary nodules - A comparative study evaluated with con trast-enhanced dynamic MR imaging and CT

Objective: The aim of this prospective study was to compare the diagnostic performances of dynamic MR imaging and CT for the differentiation of benign and malignant solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs). Methods: Eighty-one patients with SPNs (32 malignant, 49 benign) under-went dynamic MR imaging (n = 31), dynamic CT (n = 27), or both (n = 23). The degree of peak enhancement of benign and malignant SPNs was compared on both dynamic MR imaging and CT. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to compare the diagnostic performances of dynamic MR imaging and CT. Results: The malignant SPNs revealed significantly greater degrees of peak enhancement on dynamic MR imaging (mean +/- SD [p%SI] 131.2 +/- 46.1 versus 54.2 +/- 45.3; range [p%SI] 82.6-260.0 versus -0.7-171.7; P < 0.0001) and CT (mean +/- SD [D-MI] 37.8 +/- 15.1 versus 17.9 +/- 21.8; range [D-MI] 14.1-68.2 versus -5.4-107.6; P = 0.0004). Although dynamic MR imaging was somewhat superior to dynamic CT, the diagnostic performances of the 2 modalities based on ROC analysis were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Dynamic MR imaging and CT seem to be equally well suited for the differentiation between benign and malignant SPNs.