Current role of body MRI in pediatric oncology

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays an important role in the imaging of children with non-central nervous system malignancies, and it is increasingly replacing or complementing CT in many cases. MRI has several advantages over CT, including superior contrast resolution as well as superior tissue characterization with the use of novel pulse sequences and functional or organ-specific contrast agents. In addition, the lack of ionizing radiation — an important consideration in children — allows for multiphase dynamic post-contrast imaging, which can be useful for lesion detection and characterization. Several challenges remain in the performance of MRI in pediatric oncology patients, including the frequent need for sedation or anesthesia in young children because of long imaging times, as well as the suboptimal imaging of the lungs in the evaluation for pulmonary metastatic disease. However, despite these challenges, with continued improvements in MRI image quality and the development of novel sequences, contrast agents and quantitative imaging techniques, MRI is expected to play an ever increasing role in the imaging of pediatric oncology patients.