title: Estimation of liver function using T2* mapping on gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the usefulness of T2* mapping of liver on gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced MRI for estimating liver function.
  
  
  METHODS
  33 patients were classified into 3 groups as follows: normal liver function (NLF) (n = 7); mild liver damage (MLD) (n = 16) with Child-Pugh A; severe liver damage (SLD) (n = 10) with Child-Pugh B. T2*-weighted gradient-echo (T2*W-GRE) and T1-weighted gradient-echo (T1W-GRE) images were obtained before and after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration (3, 8, 13, and 18 min; 5, 10,15, and 20min; respectively). T2* mapping of liver was calculated from T2*W-GRE, then T2* values of liver and T2* reduction rates of T2* value between pre- and post-contrast enhancement were measured. The increase rates of liver-to-muscle signal intensity (LMS) ratio on T1W-GRE between pre- and post-contrast enhancement were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  T2* values on pre- and post-contrast showed no significant differences among three groups. Significant differences in T2* reduction rates were found among groups, and those of LCB were lower than those of other groups (NLF:MLD:SLD, 3.8:6.0:0.6% at 3 min, 8.2:10.3:1.0% at 8 min, 10.7:11.5:1.2% at 13 min, and 16.1:13.2:3.5% at 18 min, respectively) (P<0.05). Significant differences in increase rates of LMS ratio on T1W-GRE were identified (NLF:MLD:SLD, 1.53:1.46:1.35 at 5 min, 1.68:1.64:1.37 at 10 min, 1.79:1.76:1.44 at 15 min, and 1.89:1.78:1.49 at 20 min, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  T2* reduction rate and increase rate of LMS ratio on T1W-GRE may allow us estimation of liver function according to Child-Pugh score.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Shimane University School of Medicine, 89-1 Enya-cho, Izumo, Shimane 693-8501, Japan. be katsu@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katsube
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Seishi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumano
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Imaoka
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kagawa
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Kazunari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Noboru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanigawa
authors.forename: Yasuharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Takamichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Murakami
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008111:Liver Function Tests; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; C073590:gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA