Mn-DPDP enhanced MR imaging of the liver: analysis of pulse sequence performance.
OBJECTIVE
To compare liver enhancement and lesion-liver contrast on T1-weighted (T1W) gradient recalled echo (GRE), spin-echo (SE) and fat-suppressed SE (FS-SE) pulse sequences at Manganese-DPDP (Mn-DPDP) enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the liver. PATIENTS AND METHODS. Twenty-one patients with known liver lesions were administered 5 mumol/kg of Mn-DPDP. TIW GRE (78/2.3/80 degrees), SE and F-SE (300/12) images were obtained before and 15 min after Mn-DPDP. Signal/noise ratio (SNR) and lesion-liver contrast/noise ratio (CNR) were calculated for each pulse sequence.


RESULTS
Liver SNR (n = 21) and lesion-liver CNR (n = 10) increased significantly after Mn-DPDP on all three pulse sequences (P < 0.0001). Liver SNR was highest on the FS-SE and GRE pulse sequences (FS-SE = 43.8, GRE = 38.4, SE = 29.2). Lesion-liver CNR was highest on the FS-SE pulse sequence (FS-SE = -29.3, SE = -23.2, GRE = -19.8), which was significantly higher than the GRE pulse sequence (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The T1-weighted fat-suppressed SE (FS-SE) pulse sequence provides highest liver enhancement and lesion-liver contrast and is recommended for Mn-DPDP enhanced MR imaging.
Slater
G J
GJ
Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.
Saini
S
S
Mayo-smith
W W
WW
Sharma
P
P
Eisenberg
P J
PJ
Hahn
P F
PF
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008345:Manganese; D008875:Middle Aged; D011732:Pyridoxal Phosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D003287:Contrast Media; D008345:Manganese; D011732:Pyridoxal Phosphate; D004492:Edetic Acid; C060076:N,N'-bis(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)ethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acid