title: MR-arterioportography: a new technical approach for detection of liver lesions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the benefit and effectiveness of MR-arterioportography (MR-AP) to achieve the highest sensitivity for detection and evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty liver cirrhosis patients with suspected HCC were included before transarterial chemoembolization. In all patients double-enhanced Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed. A bolus of 10 mL Magnevist® was injected through a selectively placed catheter in the superior mesenteric artery and MRI of the liver was performed in arterioportographic phase. Two independent readers evaluated number, size and localization of detected lesions. Diagnostic quality was determined using a 4-point scale. Differences were analyzed for significance using a t-test. Interobserver variability was calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all 20 patients (100%), MR-AP was feasible. Diagnostic quality was, in all cases, between 1 and 2 for both modalities and readers. MR-AP detected significantly more lesions than double-enhanced MRI (102.5 vs. 61, respectively, P < 0.0024). The inter-observer variability was 0.881 for MRI and 0.903 for MR-AP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study confirmed that the MR-AP as an additional modality for detection of HCC is beneficial, as significantly more lesions were detected compared to MRI with liver-specific contrast.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Regensburg University School of Medicine, D-93053 Regensburg, Germany. jarennert@yahoo.de
authors.forename: Janine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rennert
authors.forename: Ernst-Michael
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Andreas G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Schreyer
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hoffstetter
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Heiss
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feuerbach
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zorger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011172:Portography / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity