MRI for staging lymphoma: Whole-body or less?

Purpose: To assess whether whole‐body MRI detects more clinically relevant lesions (i.e., leading to a change in Ann Arbor stage) than an MRI protocol that only includes the head/neck and trunk (i.e., from cranial vertex to groin, excluding the arms) in patients with lymphoma. Materials and Methods: One hundred consecutive patients with newly diagnosed lymphoma prospectively underwent T1‐weighted and T2‐weighted short inversion time inversion recovery whole‐body MRI. The number of lymphomatous sites at MRI with a field of view (FOV) limited to the head/neck and trunk, and the additional number of lymphomatous sites at whole‐body MRI and their influence on Ann Arbor stage were determined. Results: At MRI with a FOV limited to the head/neck and trunk, 507 sites were classified as lymphomatous. At whole‐body MRI, 7 additional sites outside the head/neck and trunk in 7 patients (7.0%; 95% confidence interval: 3.4–13.8%) were classified as lymphomatous, but Ann Arbor stage never changed. Conclusion: Whole‐body MRI did not detect any clinically relevant lesions outside the FOV of an MRI protocol that only includes the head/neck and trunk. Therefore, it may be sufficient to only include the head/neck and trunk when using MRI for staging lymphoma. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;33:1144–1150. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.