Abdominal Imaging - Review

Invisible fat on CT: making it visible by MRI

10.5152/dir.2015.15286

  • Emre Ünal
  • Ali Devrim Karaosmanoğlu
  • Deniz Akata
  • Mustafa Nasuh Özmen
  • Muşturay Karçaaltıncaba

Received Date: 04.07.2015 Accepted Date: 19.08.2015 Diagn Interv Radiol 2016;22(2):133-140

Presence of fat in a lesion significantly narrows the differential diagnosis. Small quantities of macroscopic fat and intracellular fat are invisible on computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can reveal any fatty change in a lesion and can also differentiate macroscopic fat from intracellular and intravoxel fat. Hypodensity on CT may be a sign of invisible fat and MRI can help to diagnose even minute amounts of fat in liver, pancreas, adrenal, musculoskeletal, and omental pseudolesions and lesions. This article will review the superiority of MRI over CT in demonstrating fat in abdominal lesions.