A comparison of two MR hepatobiliary gadolinium chelates: Gd-BOPTA and Gd-EOB-DTPA.
OBJECTIVE
Two gadolinium chelates with partial hepatobiliary excretion, Gd-BOPTA and Gd-EOB-DTPA, and one gadolinium chelate with exclusively renal excretion, Gd-HP-DO3A, were compared on MRI at 1.5 T. The time course of enhancement for normal liver, gallbladder, spleen, kidney, and muscle was specifically examined in the rhesus monkey.


METHODS
Four animals were evaluated with each agent for a total of 12 MR studies. Breath-hold and non-breath-hold T1 weighted scans were acquired prior to and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, and 90 min after intravenous contrast medium injection. The same contrast dose, 0.1 mmol/kg, was used for all studies. Images were analyzed by region-of interest measurements.


RESULTS
Both hepatobiliary gadolinium chelates achieved sustained enhancement of normal liver parenchyma, superior in magnitude to that following Gd-HP-DO3A injection. On sans 45-90 min following injection, liver enhancement with Gd-BOPTA was superior to that with Gd-EOB-DTPA. This difference was, however, not statistically significant. Liver enhancement decreased more rapidly on delayed scans with Gd-EOB-DTPA than with Gd-Bopta, a result that was statistically significant. Excretion of contrast agent into the gallbladder was noted with both hepatobiliary agents but not with Gd-HP-DO3A.


CONCLUSIONS
Enhancement of normal liver parenchyma peaks at a later time after injection with Gd-BOPTA than with Gd-EOB-DTPA. However, the maximum percent enhancement is comparable when (as in the current evaluation) the two agents are compared at the same dose (0.1 mmol/kg). This finding supports the choice of optimal imaging time post contrast agent administration (for delayed scans) in clinical trials of 20-45 min post injection with Gd-EOB-DTPA and 60-120 min post injection with Gd-BOPTA.
Department of Radiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40536-0098, USA.
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D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D005682:Gadolinium / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA / Q000008:administration & dosage; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008536:Meglumine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors
D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C073590:gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA; C064572:gadobenic acid; D008536:Meglumine; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA