title: Diffusion-weighted images of the liver: comparison of tumor detection before and after contrast enhancement with superparamagnetic iron oxide.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the recognition of malignant lesions of the liver on diffusion-weighted images (DWI) can be improved by the administration of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO).
  
  
  METHODS
  Pre- and post-SPIO mediated DWI of the liver was compared in six patients with suspected malignant liver lesions at 1.5 Tesla using a parallel imaging technique.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Post-SPIO DWI showed improved contrast-to-noise ratio between malignant lesions and liver. Furthermore, the spleen signal was decreased on post-SPIO DWI, thus avoiding the overlap of the spleen and left lobe of the liver on maximum intensity projections (MIP).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Recognition of malignant lesions of the liver was improved by SPIO on DWI. On MIP images of DWI, SPIO helped to decrease the overlap of spleen signal on the liver in some projection angles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. naganawa@med.nagoya-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naganawa
authors.forename: Chiho
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kumada
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishigaki
authors.forename: Shunichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Takizawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003287:Contrast Media; D003911:Dextrans; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging; D005260:Female; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010087:Oxides; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D003911:Dextrans; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D010087:Oxides; D007501:Iron; C065507:ferumoxides; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide