Colorectal Carcinoma : Local Tumor Staging and Assessment of Lymph Node Metastasis by High-Resolution MR Imaging in Surgical Specimens

الملخص EN

Purpose.

To assess the accuracy of high-resolution MR imaging as a means of evaluating mural invasion and lymph node metastasis by colorectal carcinoma in surgical specimens.

Materials and Methods.

High-resolution T1-weighted and T2-weighted MR images were obtained in 92 surgical specimens containing 96 colorectal carcinomas.

Results.

T2-weighted MR images clearly depicted the normal colorectal wall as consisting of seven layers.

In 90 (94%) of the 96 carcinomas the depth of mural invasion depicted by MR imaging correlated well with the histopathologic stage.

Nodal signal intensity on T2-weighted images (93%) and nodal border contour (93%) were more accurate than nodal size (89%) as indicators of lymph node metastasis, and MR imaging provided the highest accuracy (94%–96%) when they were combined.

Conclusion.

High-resolution MR imaging is a very accurate method for evaluating both mural invasion and lymph node metastasis by colorectal carcinoma in surgical specimens.