title: Focal hepatic lesions: diagnostic value of enhancement pattern approach with contrast-enhanced 3D gradient-echo MR imaging.
abstract: Focal hepatic lesions constitute a daily challenge in the clinical setting. However, noninvasive methods can be useful in the detection and characterization of these lesions. The noninvasive diagnosis of liver lesions is usually achieved with contrast material-enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Dynamic three-dimensional gradient-recalled-echo MR imaging provides dynamic contrast-enhanced thin-section images with fat saturation and a high signal-to-noise ratio and is excellent for the evaluation of various focal hepatic lesions. A comprehensive MR imaging examination in this setting includes T2-weighted and chemical shift T1-weighted imaging and demonstrates characteristic enhancement patterns that can be helpful in the diagnosis of most of these lesions. These enhancement patterns are seen during particular phases of contrast-enhanced imaging and include arterial phase enhancement, delayed phase enhancement, peripheral washout, ring enhancement, nodule-within-a-nodule enhancement, true central scar, pseudocentral scar, and pseudocapsule. Familiarity with these enhancement patterns can help in the identification of specific focal lesions of the liver.
authors.affiliation: Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 S Kingshighway Blvd, St Louis, MO 63110, USA. elsayesk@mir.wustl.edu
authors.forename: Khaled M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Elsayes
authors.forename: Vamsidhar R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Narra
authors.forename: Yuming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Govind
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mukundan
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lammle
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media