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Morphological features and clinical feasibility of thoracic duct: Detection with nonenhanced magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0 T
Author(s) -
Dexin Yu,
Xiangxing Ma,
Xiaoming Zhang,
Qing Wang,
Chuanfu Li
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.22128
Subject(s) - thoracic duct , medicine , maximum intensity projection , magnetic resonance imaging , coronal plane , radiology , lymph duct , duct (anatomy) , anatomy , nuclear medicine , lymphatic system , angiography , pathology
Purpose: To evaluate the detection of the thoracic duct using nonenhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to determine the influence of some related disorders on the lymphatic duct. Materials and Methods: Highly fluid‐sensitive sequence and fat‐suppressed T2‐weighted imaging (FS‐T2WI) were performed in a total of 139 cases. The axial and coronal images were used to locate the thoracic duct and the measurement and evaluation of its dimensions were performed using a 3D maximum intensity projection (MIP) reconstruction image. The differences in the dimensions among control, portal hypertension, and common bile duct obstruction groups were compared using one‐way analysis of variance. Results: The cisterna chyli was shown in 91% of cases on FS‐T2WI, while the thoracic duct appeared in 70% of the MIP images. The common configuration of the cisterna chyli was tubular or saccular in 73%. Eighty thoracic ducts had a slight turn declining to the left at the level of T8–10. There was a significant difference in the transverse diameter of the thoracic duct between the portal hypertension group and other groups ( F = 5.638, P = 0.005). Conclusion: Nonenhanced MRI is feasible for locating and depicting the morphological features of the thoracic duct. Portal hypertension may influence the dimension of the thoracic duct. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010;32:94–100. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.