MRI of the abdomen and pelvis: an update in The Netherlands.

MRI with its excellent contrast resolution and direct multiplanar imaging has become a valuable medical tool in diagnostic imaging. Due to physiological motion artifacts, the role of MRI in the abdomen is still under discussion. The use of ultrafast sequences and the development of oral contrast agents, however, offers new promises for abdominal MRI. In the area of the retroperitoneum and pelvis, MRI produces excellent images as motion-artifacts are absent. Up to the end of 1989 clinical MRI in The Netherlands was performed in only four University hospitals; nevertheless these centers proved able to compete with international standards. The rapidly increasing number of MR units that recently became available in The Netherlands could result in a surpassing of CT in many pelvic and abdominal pathological conditions.