Nuclear magnetic resonance tomographic imaging in renal disease.

The non-invasive diagnostic technique of whole body nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging was evaluated in 60 patients. 30 of these patients were known to have various renal diseases and the remainder had normal renal function. In the demonstration of space-occupying lesions of the kidney, NMR proved to be as diagnostically accurate as ultrasound and intravenous urography; it was, moreover, as specific as ultrasound in differentiating malignant tumours from benign cystic lesions. The specificity of NMR was superior to both ultrasound and IVU in the diagnosis of parenchymal disease in normally situated kidneys and in renal transplants. Hydronephrotic kidneys were readily demonstrated.