Magnetic resonance scanning in cystic fibrosis: comparison with computed tomography.

Comparison has been made between two different spin-echo sequence MR scans and CT scans of the lungs in 17 patients with cystic fibrosis. Scans were assessed for bronchial dilation, bronchial wall thickening and mucus plugging. The resolution of MR does not, at present, compare with CT. TE7 ms matched with CT for demonstrating the extent of bronchiectasis whereas TE30 ms scans were inferior to CT. Stronger background lung signal and less artefact was seen on TE7 ms scans compared with TE30 ms scans. MR is a developing technology that does not involve ionizing radiation which, with further refinement, may prove to be useful in imaging lung pathology in cystic fibrosis.