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Abstract #3014

Pitfalls of SPIO-Enhanced MR Lymphography in Sentinel Lymph Nodes: Pathogenesis of High Signals Mimicking Metastasis in Inflamed Lymph Nodes

Daisuke Suzuki1, 2, Masayuki Yamaguchi1, Toshihiro Furuta1, 3, Ryutaro Nakagami1, 4, Yasuo Okuyama2, Kohki Yoshikawa2, Hirofumi Fujii1

1Functional Imaging Division, National Cancer Center Hospital East, Kashiwa, Chiba, Japan; 2Graduate Division of Health Sciences, Komazawa University, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Radiology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan; 4Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan


Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced MRI can differentiate sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis from inflammation by the presence and absence of high signals in lymph nodes according to previous reports. In this study, we revealed that high-signal areas mimicking metastatic foci could appear even in inflamed lymph nodes. We also investigated the pathogenesis of residual high signals in analyzing the relationship between SPIO doses and high signal areas using an animal model, and found that expanded paracortices not containing macrophages and inhomogeneous distribution of macrophages may cause these high signals in inflamed lymph nodes.