Therese Sjoholm1, Benjamin A Thomas1, Yin Mo2, Louisa Sun2, Ashley St. John3, Paul Anantharajah Tambyah2, and John J Totman1
1A*STAR-NUS Clinical Imaging Research Centre, Singapore, Singapore, 2Department of Medicine, National University Hospital Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, 3Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, Singapore
In this study we assess the feasibility of using
MRI for measurement of pleural effusion in Dengue Fever. 30 subjects with confirmed
Dengue infection were scanned using T2-weighted HASTE MRI and chest x-rays
(CXRs) at baseline and 4-8 days follow-up. Fluid accumulation in the pleural
cavity was assessed for both modalities. For MRI, significantly different fluid
accumulations were measured between baseline and follow-up (p=0.002). The fluid
accumulations were all below the detectability limit of CXR. As such, MRI
provides a sensitive measurement of pleural effusion in dengue fever and can be
used to track fluid accumulation over time.
