• Benjamin Kaltenbach, Andrei Roman, Christoph Polkowski, Tatjana Gruber-Rouh, Ralf W Bauer, Renate Hammerstingl, Thomas J Vogl, and Stephan Zangos.
• Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Electronic address: benjamin.kaltenbach@kgu.de.
• Eur J Radiol. 2017 Jan 1; 86: 26-32.

PurposeTo compare free-breathing radial VIBE with moderate undersampling (us-radial-VIBE) with a standard breathhold T1-weighted volumetric interpolated sequence (3D GRE VIBE) in patients unable to suspend respiration during dynamic liver examination.Material And Methods23 consecutive patients underwent dynamic liver MR examination using the free-breathing us-radial-VIBE sequence as part of their oncologic follow-up. All patients were eligible for the free-breathing protocol due to severe respiratory artifacts at the planning or precontrast sequences. The us-radial-VIBE acquisitions were compared to the patientś last staging liver MRI including a standard breathhold 3D GRE VIBE. For an objective image evaluation, signal intensity (SI), image noise (IN), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-enhancement ratio (CER) were compared. Representative image quality parameters, including typical artifacts were independently, retrospectively and blindly scored by four readers.ResultsUs-radial-VIBE had significant lower SNR (p<0.0001) and higher IN (p<0.0001), whereas SI did not differ (p=0.62). Temporal resolution assessed with CER in the arterial phase showed higher values for us-radial-VIBE (p=0.028). Subjective image quality parameters received generally slightly higher scores for 3D GRE VIBE. In a smaller subgroup comprising patients with severe respiratory artifacts also at reference breathhold 3D GRE VIBE examination, us-radial-VIBE showed significantly higher image quality scores. Furthermore, there were generally more severe respiratory artifacts in 3D GRE VIBE, whereas streaking was characteristic in almost all us-radial-VIBE acquisitions but did not affect diagnostic validity.ConclusionFree-breathing dynamic liver imaging using us-radial-VIBE delivers accurate temporal resolution, low motion artifact susceptibility and good image quality and represents a promising alternative in patients unable to suspend respiration.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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