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In a prospective clinical study 10 normal volunteers and 30 patients with lymphoma--11 patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma and 19 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (11 low grade, 8 high grade)--were examined. Proximal femora, pelvis and lumbar spine were imaged with a 1.5 tesla superconducting MR imaging system (Siemens Magnetom). Areas of malignant infiltration in the bone marrow were clearly detected by visual and/or quantitative assessment. In most cases bone marrow involvement was demonstrated by both magnetic resonance imaging and bone marrow biopsies. However, in three of 30 patients magnetic resonance imaging showed evidence of lymphomatous involvement despite normal bone marrow histology. In one patient bone marrow cytology revealed malignant infiltration in the absence of MRI abnormalities. Thus, MRI is a sensitive method for detecting bone marrow infiltration by lymphoma.

Proton relaxation time measurements were performed on a standard whole body MR imager operating at 1.5 T using a conventional surface coil of the manufacturer. A combined CP/CPMG multiecho, multislice sequence was used for the T1 and T2 relaxation time measurements. Two repetition times of 2000 ms (30 echoes) and 600 ms (2 echoes) with 180 degrees-pulse intervals of 2 tau = 22 ms were interleaved in this sequence. A two-exponential T2 analysis of each pixel of the spin-echo images was computed in a case of an acoustic neurinoma. The two-exponential images show a short component (T2S) due to white and gray matter and a long component (T2S) due to the cerebrospinal fluid. In the fatty tissue two components with T2S = 35 {plus minus} 3 ms and T2L = 164 {plus minus} 7 ms were measured. Comparing with Gd-DTPA imaging the relaxation time images show a clear differentiation of vital tumor tissue and cerebrospinal fluid.