title: Proton spectroscopic imaging (Dixon method) of the liver: clinical utility.
abstract: The contribution of proton spectroscopic (PS) imaging to magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the liver was assessed at 0.5 T in 55 patients with known or suspected hepatic malignancy. PS images were compared subjectively with T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo (SE) images for hepatic lesion detection and conspicuity. For hepatic metastases (n = 27), PS images were equal to T1-weighted images in lesion detection in 17 patients but showed fewer lesions in five patients and false-negative results in two. When compared with T2-weighted images, PS images depicted more lesions in six patients, an equal number of lesions in 18, and fewer lesions in two. Hepatomas (n = 8) were detected with each sequence in all patients. Hepatomas were often more conspicuous on PS images than on T2-weighted images; they were of equal conspicuity on PS and T1-weighted images in most cases. Whereas fatty infiltration (n = 16) appeared on PS images as areas of low signal intensity similar to that of paraspinal muscle, it produced no detectable abnormality on either T1- or T2-weighted images. PS imaging is inferior to T1-weighted SE imaging in the detection of hepatic metastases. The major role of PS imaging at intermediate field strength is to differentiate focal fatty infiltration from hepatic metastases.
authors.affiliation: Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO 63110.
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Schertz
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Heiken
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Totty
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011522:Protons
chemical_list: D011522:Protons