• Tatsuya Gomi, Masahashi Nagamoto, Makoto Hasegawa, Akiko Tabata, Mikiko Iwasaki, Minako Ooka, Nozomu Murata, Mika Tsunoo, Yuo Iizuka, Ehiichi Kohda, and Nobuyuki Shiraga.
• Department of Radiology, Toho University Ohashi Medical Center, Tokyo, Japan.
• Acta Radiol. 2014 Feb 1; 55 (1): 3-7.

BackgroundUse of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) for diagnosis of hepatic tumors has been previously reported. Fat-saturated 3D T1-weighted gradient echo sequence (TIGRE) imaging using a breath-hold technique is usually used for dynamic studies and hepatobiliary phase Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In cases where the patient has difficulty holding their breath, this scanning method can be difficult.PurposeTo investigate the usefulness of a fat-saturated T1-weighted spin-echo (SE) sequence using a radial read-out (radial acquisition regime-SE, RADAR-SE) during free breathing for hepatobiliary phase Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI.Material And MethodsImages were acquired at 1.5 T. First, a phantom with diluted Gd-EOB-DTPA was scanned using the TIGRE sequence and the RADAR-SE sequence. Contrast ratios of the sequences were compared. Next, the hepatobiliary phase was imaged in 62 patients using the TIGRE sequence with breath-hold and the RADAR-SE during free breathing. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations were compared.ResultsIn the phantom study, RADAR-SE had a higher contrast ratio than TIGRE. In the clinical study, artifacts were more conspicuous in RADAR-SE compared to TIGRE images in the qualitative evaluation. However, RADAR-SE images were equal to or better than TIGRE images in patients who had difficulty holding their breath. The signal intensity ratio of the liver was statistically higher using RADAR-SE than TIGRE.ConclusionRADAR-SE can be useful for hepatobiliary phase Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI in patients who have difficulty holding their breath.

23 keywords...

hide…