title: Feasibility of blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI at 3T in the characterization of hepatic tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the feasibility of using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI in the characterization of hepatic tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 100 patients with 43 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), 36 metastases, 17 cholangiocarcinomas, and 23 hemangiomas underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced and BOLD MRI at 3T. BOLD MRI was performed using a multiple fast-field echo sequence (TR/TE, 290/10-28; slice thickness 5 mm) to generate 20 T2*-weighted images. The T2* value of each tumor were calculated. On a color-coded T2* map, tumors were classified into five categories of high signal intensity (strong, moderate, rim, mild) and iso-intensity, which was correlated with the enhancement pattern on dynamic phases by two observers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean T2* value (ms) of hemangiomas (97.3 ± 20.2) was the highest, followed by HCCs (48.4 ± 12.7), metastases (37.1 ± 10.5), and cholangiocarcinomas (36.6 ± 11.1). These values were significantly different (hemangioma vs. others tumors and HCC vs. metastasis or cholangiocarcinoma) (P ≤ 0.001). The agreement between the T2* color map and dynamic images was moderate for all tumors (k = 0.544), good for tumors >2.0 cm (k = 0.666), and fair for tumors ≤2.0 cm (k = 0.334). With the gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI used as a reference, the sensitivities of BOLD MRI (T2* color map) for displaying hypervascularity of HCC (categories of 1-3) were 81.0 % (n = 34/42) and 78.6 % (n = 33/42) for both observers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Liver BOLD MRI has a potential to predict the vascular pattern of hepatic tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun Jeong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Young Kon
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ji Hye
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Won Jae
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dongil
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Hyunchul
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rhim
mesh_terms: D001650:Bile Duct Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D001653:Bile Ducts, Intrahepatic; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000098:blood supply / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006391:Hemangioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000556:secondary; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen