Cine MRI of Tracheal Dynamics in Healthy Volunteers and Patients With Tracheobronchomalacia

OBJECTIVE. Bronchoscopy and MDCT are routinely used to assess tracheobronchomalacia (TBM). Recently, dynamic MRI (cine MRI) has been proposed as a radiation-free alternative to MDCT. In this study, we tested cine MRI assessment of airway dynamics during various breathing conditions and compared cine MRI and MDCT measurements in healthy volunteers and patients with suspected TBM. CONCLUSION. Cine MRI was found to be a technically feasible alternative to MDCT for assessing central airway dynamics.