title: Assessment of renal lesions with blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI at 3 T: preliminary experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this article is to prospectively determine the feasibility of using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI at 3 T in differentiating various renal lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-one patients (mean age, 53.8 years; range, 22-80 years) underwent kidney MRI, including BOLD MRI at 3 T. BOLD MRI was performed using a multiple fast-field echo (FFE) sequence to acquire 20 T2(*)-weighted images within a single breath-hold. The rate of spin dephasing (R2(*)) values of solid and benign cystic renal lesions were compared, and the results of four subgroups--simple cysts, renal cell carcinomas (RCCs), hemorrhagic cysts, and angiomyolipomas (AMLs)--were analyzed. The degree of overall imaging quality in BOLD MRI was also assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred three renal lesions were detected in the 71 patients. The mean (± SD) R2(*) values of 45 solid lesions (30.6 ± 19.4 1/s) were significantly higher than those of 58 benign cystic lesions (4.5 ± 4.8 1/s; p < 0.001). The mean R2(*) values of simple cysts, RCCs, hemorrhagic cysts, and AMLs were 1.7 ± 1.7, 22.6 ± 12.6, 10.7 ± 3.7, and 48.0 ± 25.5 1/s, respectively (p < 0.001). The degree of overall imaging quality in all patients was satisfactory or better.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Renal BOLD MRI at 3 T is a feasible technique and may be useful for differentiating various renal lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-dong, Kangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Hye
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Chan Kyo
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byung Kwan
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Eunju
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Bohyun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018207:Angiomyolipoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D016477:Artifacts; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000175:diagnosis; D003560:Cysts / Q000175:diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric