What are the common indications for performing an MRI scan?
MRI has a wide range of applications in the medical field. It is routinely used for head and neck imaging (e.g. evaluation of stroke, brain tumor, trauma), body imaging (e.g. characterization of liver, pancreatic or kidney lesions), pelvic imaging (e.g. depiction of uterine, ovarian or prostatic disease), musculoskeletal imaging (e.g. diagnosis of traumatic or arthritic changes in the knees, shoulders, hips, spine and other joints), cardiac imaging (e.g. assessment of valvular, ischemic or congenital heart disease), and breast imaging (e.g. clarification of indeterminate breast lesions found by physical exam or mammography). More advanced applications include functional MR, which amongst other uses is essential in triaging acute stroke patients, and MR Angiography, which noninvasivly allows evaluation of the vascular system, including intracranial and neck vessels, pulmonary arteries, heart vessels, aorta and lower extremity vessels.
