title: The role of hepatocyte-specific staining in liver pathology.
abstract: The advantages of MRI in the investigation of liver disease are well documented. Recent developments, including fast scanning technique and new MRI contrast agents, enable improved detection and characterization of focal liver lesions. Therefore, a definitive diagnosis can be made avoiding invasive procedures, such as liver biopsy. In this article, a special emphasis is placed on the clinical use of combined perfusional and hepatocyte-selective MRI contrast agents, which allow us to obtain morphologic and vascular information, owing to the dynamic study, as well as functional information, owing to the hepatocyte-selective phase of enhancement. Different clinical scenarios are considered in order to highlight the proper use of the hepatocyte phase to noninvasively characterize and detect different focal liver lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences and Imaging, Section of Radiological Imaging, G d'Annunzio University of Chieti, via dei Vestini, 66013, Chieti, Italy. a.filippone@rad.unich.it
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Filippone
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cianci
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Patriarca
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sabatino
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tartaro
authors.forename: Antonio Raffaele
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Cotroneo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000009:adverse effects; D022781:Hepatocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D033162:Incidental Findings; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D054989:Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy / Q000139:chemically induced; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media