Object To judge the feasibility of positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (Family pet/MR) with 18fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) for therapy response evaluation of malignant lymphoma. response to chemotherapy. PET picture quality was ranked as extremely good or superb for all scans. Interrater contract was excellent concerning Ann Arbor stage (?=?0.97) and good regarding picture quality (?=?0.41). Summary PET/MR displays promising initial outcomes for therapy response evaluation in lymphoma individuals. time to do it again, period to echo, field of look at Ten to eleven bed positions had been essential to achieve Family pet insurance coverage from the skull foundation to mid-thigh. Emission period was 2?min for every bed placement, and the full total Family pet scan period was 20C22?min. The individuals had been examined in the supine placement, with the hands down at sides. The positioning of the individual on the scanner desk remains unchanged through the whole examination to be able to maintain accurate coregistration of both imaging modalities. In seven out of nine individuals, PET/MR ABT-869 kinase inhibitor contains an attenuation MR scan and a Family pet scan, while in two individuals both initial examination and the follow-up examination included yet ABT-869 kinase inhibitor another diffusion-weighted MR scan (diffusion weighted imaging with history suppression). The diffusion-weighted scan protected the throat, thorax, belly and pelvis and was obtained using the built-in body coil. In analogy to Family pet, a multistation technique can be used to get a diffusion weighted dataset with adequate coverage. Acquisition period for every group of diffusion-weighted pictures (i.electronic. stack) was 3:38?min. Seven Prkwnk1 stacks were necessary to achieve sufficient coverage, ABT-869 kinase inhibitor resulting in 24?min additional imaging time. Total imaging time was 24C26?min without DWIBS (depending on the number of bed positions) and 48C50?min with DWIBS. Additional imaging studies available Three patients had additional CT scans performed before and after chemotherapy on a 16-slice scanner (Somatom Sensation 16, Erlangen, Germany). Five out of six CT scans were acquired after intravenous contrast media injection. In each case 120?mm contrast medium was administered intravenously with a flow of 3?ml/s (Ultravist 370; Bayer Schering Pharma, Berlin, Germany), followed by a saline bolus chaser (40?ml). The delay after contrast media injection was 55?s. In one CT scan ABT-869 kinase inhibitor no contrast medium was used. Images were acquired with a tube voltage of 120?kV and a tube current of 120?mAs. The slice thickness was 3?mm. In all three patients, the time interval between PET/MR and CT was under 16?days. Image analysis The PET scans were evaluated independently by two nuclear medicine physicians who were blinded to other imaging tests. In addition, the attenuation maps, which were calculated from the atMR for attenuation of the PET data, were reviewed for possible artifacts. Both readers used the ROVER? software package (ABX advanced biochemical compounds, Radeberg, Germany) for viewing PET images. It allows for the viewing of PET data in arbitrary slice orientation and also the calculation and viewing of MIP (maximum intensity projection) PET images. The Ann Arbor staging system [9] was used to describe the findings. PET datasets were assessed visually for artifacts and image contrast. Overall PET image quality was rated using a scale between 1 and 5 (1?=?poor, 2?=?fair, 3?=?good, 4?=?very good, 5?=?excellent). Weighted kappa was used as a measure of interobserver reliability of lymphoma staging and image quality assessment. Statistical analysis was performed using MedCalc 12.0 (MedCalc Software bvba, Mariakerke, Belgium). A value 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The atMR and the DWIBS were evaluated by a radiologist. The concordance between PET dataset and atMR was evaluated together by a nuclear physician and a radiologist. In cases with additional CT exams, these were evaluated by a radiologist blinded for the PET/MR data. Results PET In the initial scan, one patient had Ann Arbor stage I disease, two patients had stage II disease, three patients had stage III disease and three patients had stage IV disease. In total, 130 lesions were detected using PET/MR, including 128 lymph nodes, one pulmonary lesion, and one liver lesion. On the follow-up scan, eight out of nine patients showed complete remission, as shown in Fig.?2, while one patient had residual disease after therapy (stage III). Open in a separate window Fig.?2 FDG-PET/MR in a patient with Hodgkins disease before and after chemotherapy. a PET MIP image showing enlarged lymph nodes with increased FDG uptake in the mediastinum and the right axilla. b Inverted MIP of diffusion weighted MR.