Pleural Neoplasms—What Could MRI Change?

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The current imaging method recommended in patients with a suspicion of pleural malignancy is CT which has been shown to have certain downsides and limitations—from requiring the administration of the contrast agent and a relatively high radiation dosage to its restricted capacity for the differentiation of the pleural malignancies from the surrounding tissues. During the last few years, numerous studies have suggested that MRI could provide a solution to some of these issues, as various MRI sequences could not only detect and delineate pleural tumors more effectively than CT but also provide additional data on the tumors’ physiology or histology. In this review we summarize current knowledge on the primary pleural neoplasms and discuss potential applications of MRI in patients with pleural malignancies, as well as the current limitations of both the method itself and the research involving it. ABSTRACT: The primary pleural neoplasms constitute around 10% of the pleural tumors. The currently recommended method for their imaging is CT which has been shown to have certain limitations. Strong development of the MRI within the last two decades has provided us with a number of sequences that could potentially be superior to CT when it comes to the pleural malignancies’ detection and characterization. This literature review discusses the possible applications of the MRI as a diagnostic tool in patients with pleural neoplasms. Although selected MRI techniques have been shown to have a number of advantages over CT, further research is required in order to confirm the obtained results, broaden our knowledge on the topic, and pinpoint the sequences most optimal for pleural imaging, as well as the best methods for reading and analysis of the obtained data.