Yonsei Med J.  2000 Aug;41(4):459-467. 10.3349/ymj.2000.41.4.459.

Test-bolus injection for optimization of arterial phase imaging during contrast-enhanced hepatic MR imaging

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Diagnostic Radiology and the Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. yjsrad97@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr

Abstract

Contrast enhancement during the dynamic MR imaging is important for the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a timing examination with a injection of a 1.0-mL bolus of gadopentetate dimeglumine into the antecubital vein followed by rapid dynamic scanning and measurement of signal intensity of the aorta could help to obtain proper arterial-dominant phase images for the characterization of focal hepatic lesions during subsequent multiphase dynamic MR imaging. The imaging delay to acquisition of the first gadolinium-enhanced image for multiphase dynamic MR imaging was set to equal the time to peak aortic enhancement during the test examination. The first contrast-enhanced images of 80 patients with 160 focal liver lesions (hepatocellular carcinoma, n = 79; cavernous hemangioma, n = 51; metastatic tumor, n = 30) were then retrospectively reviewed. Peak aortic enhancement occurred between 10 and 28 seconds (mean, 16.5 seconds +/- 3.1) after starting the infusion of contrast material in 80 patients during the test-examination. Depending on the findings of intrahepatic vascular enhancement on the full-scale dynamic images, hepatic arterial phase (n = 11, 14%) or sinusoid phase (n = 65, 81%) imaging was obtained during the first gadolinium-enhanced acquisition in 76 (95%) of 80 patients. Three different lesions were well characterized and easily distinguished from each other (p < .0001) on the first-phase images depending on their enhancement pattern. In the majority of patients, timing examination with test-bolus injection was helpful in obtaining qualified images for the characterization of various focal lesions.

Keyword

Liver MR; liver neoplasms; contrast enhancement MR

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Female
Hepatic Artery/pathology
Human
Image Enhancement*
Liver/pathology*
Liver Neoplasms/secondary
Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Age
Time Factors
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