Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Clinical and Translational Imaging, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the detection performance of zero-echo time (ZTE) and T1-weighted (T1W) MRI sequences for pulmonary nodules (PNs), and to determine the clinical significance of undetectable PNs on ZTE MRI in oncologic 18F-FDG PET/MRI examinations. Methods: Patients who underwent 18F-FDG PET/MRI including ZTE and T1W MRI sequences for oncological indications, and who had a concurrent 18F-FDG PET/CT or a thoracic CT within one month were included in the study. Patients with at least one 18F-FDG-positive PN were included in the 18F-FDG-positive nodule-based analysis. Patients with at least one 18F-FDG-negative PN on CT and without any 18F-FDG-positive PNs were included in the 18F-FDG-negative nodule-based analysis. The total number of PNs and their sizes on CT, the presence and sizes of PNs on MRI sequences were recorded. The CT images were accepted as the reference. Detection rates among sequences were compared using Cochran’s Q and McNemar tests. Results: 175 18F-FDG-positive PNs from 103 patients and 68 18F-FDG-negative PNs from 51 patients were included. The detection rates of T1W water (T1_W), in-phase (T1_IP), and out-of-phase (T1_OP), and ZTE MRI for 18F-FDG-positive PNs were 36.6%, 62.9%, 72.6%, and 97.1%, whereas those for 18F-FDG-negative PNs were 26.5%, 32.4%, 38.2%, and 60.3%, respectively. ZTE MRI had significantly higher detection rates for 18F-FDG-positive and 18F-FDG-negative PNs compared to T1W MRI sequences. PN sizes measured on ZTE MRI did not differ significantly from CT. Conclusion: ZTE MRI may substantially improve the detection of PNs on PET/MRI and PN sizes on ZTE MRI were comparable with CT. Incorporation of the ZTE MRI sequence into standard PET/MRI protocols may address an important limitation of PET/MRI in PN evaluation.