• Sook Namkung, Christoph J Zech, Thomas Helmberger, Maximilian F Reiser, and Stefan O Schoenberg.
• Institute of Clinical Radiology, Munich University Hospitals-Grosshadern, Munich, Germany.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2007 Apr 1; 25 (4): 755-65.

PurposeTo evaluate the efficacy of ferucarbotran in T2-weighted (T2W) fast spin-echo (FSE) and T2*W gradient-echo (GRE) sequences for characterizing focal liver lesions.Materials And MethodsIn 68 patients, 46 malignant and 22 benign focal liver lesions were evaluated. Precontrast (NCE) T2W FSE images and contrast-enhanced (CE) T2W FSE and T2*W GRE images were obtained on a 1.5T MR system. Based on signal intensity (SI) measurements in focal lesions and liver parenchyma, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) were calculated for all sequences. The percentage of SI loss (PSIL) in focal lesions after contrast agent (CA) application was calculated for the T2W FSE sequence. Qualitative analyses were performed to assess image quality and lesion conspicuity obtained with the CE-T2W FSE and CE-T2*W GRE sequences.ResultsThe mean PSIL was higher in solid benign lesions than in malignant lesions (39.6% vs. 3.2%, P<0.05). With a threshold PSIL of 25%, the sensitivity and specificity for characterizing malignant lesions were 97.8% and 92.9%, respectively. The mean CNR of the malignant lesions was higher in the CE-T2*W sequence than in the CE- and NCE-T2W FSE sequences (29.9 vs. 22.7 (P<0.01) vs. 12.8 (P<0.01)). CE-T2*W images showed a superior image quality and lesion conspicuity (P<0.05) compared to the CE-T2W FSE sequence.ConclusionThe PSIL can be an accurate tool for characterizing benign and malignant lesions. The addition of a CE-T2*W GRE sequence is helpful for the detection and characterization of malignant lesions.Copyright (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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