title: Quantitative evaluation of enhancement patterns in focal solid liver lesions with Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to investigate the dynamic enhancement patterns in focal solid liver lesions after the administration of gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) by means of dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including hepatobiliary phase (HP) images 20 min after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Non-enhanced T1/T2-weighted as well as dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) images during the arterial phase (AP), the portal venous phase (PVP), the late phase (LP), and the HP (20 min) were obtained from 83 patients (54 male, 29 female, mean age 62.01 years) with focal solid liver lesions. MRI was conducted by means of a 1.5-T system for 63 patients with malignant liver lesions (HCCs: n = 34, metastases: n = 29) and for 20 patients with benign liver lesions (FNH lesions: n = 14, hemangiomas: n = 3, adenomas: n = 3). For quantitative analysis, signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), contrast enhancement ratios (CER), lesion-to-liver contrast ratios (LLC), and signal intensity (SI) ratios were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SNR of liver parenchyma significantly increased in each dynamic phase after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration compared to the SNR of non-enhanced images (p<0.001). The CER of HCCs and metastases significantly decreased between LP and HP images (p = 0.0011, p<0.0001). However, FNH lesions did not show any significant difference, whereas an increased CER was found in hemangiomas. The mean LLCs of FNH lesions were significantly higher than those of HCCs and metastases. The LLC values of hemangiomas remained negative during the entire time course, whereas the LLC of adenomas indicated hyperintensity from the AP to the LP. Furthermore, adenomas showed hypointensity in HP images.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI may help diagnose focal solid liver lesions by evaluating their enhancement patterns.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haimerl
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wächtler
authors.affiliation: Center for Clinical Trials, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zeman
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Niklas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Verloh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Platzek
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas Georg
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Schreyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stroszczynski
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wiggermann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003287:Contrast Media; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; C073590:gadolinium ethoxybenzyl DTPA; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA