Performance of Lung MRI Combined to Synthetic CT in the Follow-up of Lung Nodules

Lung cancer screening trials using low-dose chest CT scans have shown a significant reduction of cancer related mortality in subjects at high risk of lung cancer. However, high rate of false positives and overdiagnosis have led to invasive methods, which are not without risks. Evaluation of lung nodules using lung MRI with ultra short echo time sequences (UTE) has been found comparable to chest CT scans. Moreover, MRI has the advantage of multiparametric characterization of lesions using different tissue contrasts. Following the recommendation of the French National Authority for Health (HAS) to evaluate new methods of lung cancer screening, this prospective single center pilot study is designed to evaluate the performance of multiparametric lung MRI combined to synthetic CT in the diagnosis of lung cancer in heavily smokers or ex-smokers professionally exposed to carcinogens