ABSTRACT

The aim of our study was to evaluate the availability of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) for the differentiation of benign or malignant pulmonary nodules and masses.

A total of 59 patients (45 male, 14 female) with pulmonary nodules and masses were included in this prospective study. MRS was applied to the pulmonary lesions of the patients and choline levels were determined. Afterwards CT-guided percutaneous needle biopsy was performed. According to the biopsy results, pulmonary lesions were benign in 25 patients and malignant in 34 patients.

Choline levels were significantly higher in malignant lesions compared with benign lesions (p < 0.001). When the other conditions were kept constant, the probability of malignancy significantly increased by 17.38-fold (95% CI, 3.78–79.93) in those with choline levels >1.65 µmol/g compared to those with choline levels ≤1.65 µmol/g (p < 0.001).

MRS is a noninvasive method that can be used in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary nodules and masses.