title: Potential clinical factors affecting hepatobiliary enhancement at Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to clarify the clinical factors that might affect the degree of hepatic parenchymal enhancement at gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 84 patients with (n=63) and without chronic liver disease (n=21) underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging. Contrast-enhanced MR images of hepatobiliary phase (HP) were obtained at 20 min after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration. The relative enhancement (RE) of liver parenchyma at 20 min HP was calculated from region of interest measurements at each patient. Then, these results were correlated with various clinical parameters using Pearson correlation coefficient or Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Furthermore, the predictor of the degree of hepatic parenchymal enhancement was determined using multiple regression analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The presence or absence of chronic liver disease (P=.002), ascites (P=.005) and splenomegaly (P=.027), and the values of prothrombin activity (P=.008), total bilirubin (T-Bil) (P=.001), albumin (P=.001), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (P=.002) and cholinesterase (P=.007) were significantly correlated with the RE of liver parenchyma at 20 min HP. Among these parameters, increases of T-Bil (P=.011 to .028) and AST (P=.018 to .049) were predictors of decreased hepatic parenchymal enhancement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hepatic parenchymal enhancement of Gd-EOB-DTPA was affected by various clinical parameters. Impaired hepatobiliary enhancement may be predicted by routine biochemical tests, such as T-Bil and AST.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Kawasaki Medical School, 577 Matsushima, Kurashiki city, Okayama 701-0192, Japan. ahah@med.kawasaki-m.ac.jp
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Higaki
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tamada
authors.forename: Teruki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sone
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kanki
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Daigo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tanimoto
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Higashi
authors.forename: Katsuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016477:Artifacts; D003287:Contrast Media; D058625:End Stage Liver Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; C073590:gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA