Improvement of gadoxetate arterial phase capture with a high spatio-temporal resolution multiphase three-dimensional SPGR-Dixon sequence.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether a multiphase method with high spatiotemporal resolution (STR) by means of a combination of parallel imaging, pseudorandom sampling and temporal view sharing improves the capture and intensity of gadoxetate arterial phase images as well as lesion enhancement.


METHODS
Thirty-seven patients were imaged with a conventional spoiled gradient echo acquisition and 48 with a high STR multiphase acquisition after the administration of gadoxetate. Arterial phase capture, image quality, and quality of fat suppression were qualitatively graded. Fourteen lesions in the conventional group and 28 in the high STR multiphase group were imaged, including 34 focal nodular hyperplasias. The ratio of lesion to parenchyma enhancement as well as relative hepatic artery enhancement were calculated. Chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U and student t-tests were used to compare differences.


RESULTS
The high STR multiphase acquisition included the arterial phase more frequently than conventional acquisitions (P < 0.001), with the arterial phase missed in 17% (95% CI of 4-28%) of patients with conventional acquisition compared with 2% (95% CI of 0-6%) with the high STR multiphase acquisition. There was no loss of image quality or degree of fat saturation. Additionally, there was increased relative intensity of the hepatic arteries (P < 0.001) as well as lesion enhancement (P = 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
The high STR multiphase acquisition resulted in more reliable gadoxetate arterial phase capture compared with a conventional acquisition while preserving image quality with robust fat saturation.
Department of Radiology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California, USA.
Thomas A
TA
Hope
Manojkumar
M
Saranathan
Iva
I
Petkovska
Brian A
BA
Hargreaves
Robert J
RJ
Herfkens
Shreyas S
SS
Vasanawala
D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000737:chemistry; D020518:Focal Nodular Hyperplasia / Q000473:pathology; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012984:Software; D013997:Time Factors
D003287:Contrast Media; C073590:gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA
FNH; arterial phase; gadoxetate; view sharing