MR imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Forty-two patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were examined by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The presence of tumor was suggested in 41 of 42 cases by a high-intensity area on T2 weighted spin-echo (SE) images with a repetition time (TR) of 1.6 s. Specific findings of HCC such as the presence of a capsule, mosaic pattern, and tumor thrombus in major veins were noted in 10, two, and seven cases, respectively. In six cases the tumor pattern changed from a well-defined mass to an irregular, ill-defined one according to pulse sequence (SE: echo time 35 and 70 ms; TR 1.6 and 0.4 s). In our early experience MR was almost equal to conventional X-ray CT in the detection of main or daughter lesions and in the determination of extent and characterization of HCC.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed