Morphological features and clinical feasibility of thoracic duct: Detection with nonenhanced magnetic resonance imaging at 3.0 T

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.