title: Hepatocellular MR contrast agents: enhancement characteristics of liver parenchyma and portal vein after administration of gadoxetic acid in comparison to gadobenate dimeglumine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the enhancement characteristics of liver parenchyma and portal vein as well as the portal vein-to liver contrast in Gd-EOB-DTPA- and Gd-BOPTA-enhanced abdominal MRI.
  
  
  METHODS
  The local institutional review board approved this retrospective study. A total of 70 patients (30 female, 40 male) without relevant liver disease underwent either Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced (35 patients, dose 0.025 mmol/kg) or Gd-BOPTA-enhanced (35 patients, dose 0.1 mmol/kg) abdominal MRI. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) for the portal vein and the liver as well as portal vein-to-liver contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were calculated for three consecutive arterial phases, one portal venous phase and one delayed imaging phase.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The liver SNR showed higher values for the Gd-BOPTA group in the arterial and portal venous phases (statistically significant for the second and third arterial phase), while the liver SNR in the delayed phase was higher for the Gd-EOB-DTPA group. The portal venous SNR as well as the portal vein-to-liver CNR was higher in the Gd-BOPTA group in all imaging phases (statistically significant in all phases except for the first arterial phase).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The enhancement of liver parenchyma and portal vein as well as the portal vein-to-liver contrast in the arterial and portal venous imaging phases were higher for patients receiving Gd-BOPTA compared with Gd-EOB-DTPA at the respective recommended doses. Gd-BOPTA might therefore enable better evaluation of the portal vein.
authors: Duke University Medical Center, Department of Radiology, DUMC 3808, Durham, NC 27710, United States. sfeuerlein@yahoo.com
authors: Sebastian
authors: S
authors: Feuerlein
authors: Rajan T
authors: RT
authors: Gupta
authors: Daniel T
authors: DT
authors: Boll
authors: Elmar M
authors: EM
authors: Merkle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008536:Meglumine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000473:pathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C073590:gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA; C064572:gadobenic acid; D008536:Meglumine; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA