• H A Rowley, G Scialfa, P-y Gao, J A Maldjian, D Hassell, M J Kuhn, F J Wippold, M Gallucci, B C Bowen, I M Schmalfuss, J Ruscalleda, S Bastianello, and C Colosimo.
• Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53792-3252, USA. hrowley@uwhealth.org
• AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2008 Oct 1; 29 (9): 1684-91.

Background And PurposeThe higher relaxivity of gadobenate dimeglumine compared with gadodiamide is potentially advantageous for contrast-enhanced brain MR imaging. This study intraindividually compared 0.1-mmol/kg doses of these agents for qualitative and quantitative lesion enhancement.Materials And MethodsAdult patients with suggested or known brain lesions underwent 2 identical MR imaging examinations at 1.5T, one with gadobenate dimeglumine and the other with gadodiamide. The agents were administered in randomized order separated by 3-14 days. Imaging sequences and postinjection acquisition timing were identical for the 2 examinations. Three blinded readers evaluated images qualitatively for diagnostic information (lesion extent, delineation, morphology, enhancement, and global preference) and quantitatively for contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR).ResultsOne hundred thirteen of 138 enrolled patients successfully underwent both examinations. Final diagnoses were intra-axial tumor, metastasis, extra-axial tumor, or other (47, 27, 18, and 21 subjects, respectively). Readers 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated global preference for gadobenate dimeglumine in 63 (55.8%), 77 (68.1%), and 73 (64.6%) patients, respectively, compared with 3, 2, and 3 patients for gadodiamide (P < .0001, all readers). Highly significant (P < .0001, all readers) preference for gadobenate dimeglumine was demonstrated for all qualitative end points and for CNR (increases of 23.3%-34.7% and 42.4%-48.9% [spin-echo and gradient-refocused echo sequences, respectively] for gadobenate dimeglumine compared with gadodiamide). Inter-reader agreement was good for all evaluations (kappa = 0.47-0.69). Significant preference for gadobenate dimeglumine was demonstrated for all lesion subgroup analyses.ConclusionSignificantly greater diagnostic information and lesion enhancement are achieved on brain MR imaging with 0.1-mmol/kg gadobenate dimeglumine compared with gadodiamide at an equivalent dose.

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