The British journal of radiology
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The purpose of this study was firstly to show the diagnostic value of a rapid acquisition multislice sequence (TurboFLASH) during bolus injection of gadolinium-DTPA by comparing it with the pulse sequences currently used for abdominal studies and secondly to develop improved scanning protocols for the liver. Patients were referred for upper abdominal studies including portal vein assessment. 40 patients were imaged in the coronal plane using a multislice TurboFLASH (TF) sequence (TR = 100; TE = 4) acquired during a breath-hold period of 19 s. The short echo time allows up to 11 slices of 5 mm thickness to be acquired simultaneously. ⋯ Our results demonstrate that Gd-DTPA TF imaging improves visualization of the main portal vein compared with SE sequences and provides a more accurate assessment of vessel patency. The segmental anatomy of the liver is better appreciated and the demonstration of focal liver lesions compared with T2W-SE images is improved during the non-equilibrium phase of enhancement. TF acquisitions before and after Gd-DTPA are obtained in approximately 5 min; thus a marked reduction in examination time can be achieved.