• Sang-Hoon Chung, Myeong-Jin Kim, Jin-Young Choi, and Hye-Suk Hong.
• Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiological Science, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
• J Magn Reson Imaging. 2010 Feb 1; 31 (2): 365-72.

PurposeTo compare two different injection rates for gadoxetic acid-enhanced hepatic arterial phase images on hepatic dynamic MRI.Materials And MethodsHepatic arterial phase images were obtained after an intravenous bolus injection of gadoxetic acid at a rate of 1 mL/second in 62 patients and 2 mL/second in 64 patients on a 3 Tesla MR scanner using a test-bolus injection method. The signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) of the liver, portal vein, hepatic vein, aorta, spleen and pancreas were measured. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of hypervascular hepatic tumors was calculated. Two radiologists independently scored items to evaluate image quality of hepatic arterial phase and detected hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).ResultsThe SNR of the aorta on the arterial phase images was significantly higher in the 1 mL/second group (235.43 +/- 82.59) than in the 2 mL/second group (190.94 +/- 96.90, P < 0.05). The SNRs of the liver, spleen and pancreas, the CNRs of hypervascular hepatic tumors, the detection rate of hypervascular HCC and subjective ratings for the optimal arterial enhancement were comparable between the two groups.ConclusionInjection rates of 2 mL/second and 1 mL/second provided comparable image qualities on arterial phase images of hepatic dynamic MRI using gadoxetic acid.

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