Gadolinium-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Tumors of the Head and Neck

At the 1989 annual meeting of the American Society for Head and Neck Surgery in San Francisco, Calif, Douglas Phillips and colleagues, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, presented their experience using gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of 11 patients with neoplasms of the head and neck. All patients were studied using T1- and T2-weighted images, as well as post-gadolinium T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Gadolinium is a paramagnetic contrast agent, similar to the iodinated contrast agents used in computed tomography, and was employed to increase the sensitivity of the examination. Images obtained on each patient were scored according to tumor recognition (conspicuity) and margin delineation. The gadolinium-enhanced images were judged to be superior to both T1- and T2-weighted images in 7 of 11 patients in terms of margins, and in 6 of 11 patients in terms of conspicuity. Images obtained with gadolinium were not uniformly superior; and, in a few