Hypervascular malignant liver lesions: comparison of various MR imaging pulse sequences and dynamic CT.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the appearance of hypervascular liver lesions on gadolinium-enhanced fast low-angle shot (FLASH) imaging with T2-weighted fat-suppressed spin-echo imaging, dynamic nonequilibrium-phase FLASH imaging, and dynamic nonequilibrium-phase iodine-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and to characterize the appearance of lesions on serial postgadolinium FLASH images.


METHODS
Twenty-nine patients with hypervascular malignant liver lesions were examined with dynamic contrast-enhanced CT and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging within a 1-month interval. MR sequences included T2-weighted fat-suppression, precontrast FLASH, and postgadolinium FLASH at 1 second (sinusoid phase), 45 seconds (nonequilibrium phase), and 10 minutes.


RESULTS
More than five lesions were detected in 12 patients with CT, 15 patients with T2-weighted fat-suppression imaging, 16 with sinusoid-phase FLASH imaging, and 11 with nonequilibrium-phase FLASH imaging. In six patients, a statistically significant (P = .03) increase in the number of lesions detected, by category, was observed on sinusoid-phase FLASH images compared with CT images.


CONCLUSIONS
Sinusoid-phase FLASH imaging is superior to nonequilibrium-phase imaging with MR or CT for the demonstration of hypervascular malignant lesions.
Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27514.
R E
RE
Larson
R C
RC
Semelka
A S
AS
Bagley
P L
PL
Molina
E D
ED
Brown
J K
JK
Lee
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003287:Contrast Media; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008536:Meglumine; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D003287:Contrast Media; D004338:Drug Combinations; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D008536:Meglumine; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA