title: The role of gadoxetic acid as a paramagnetic contrast medium in the characterization and detection of focal liver lesions: a review.
abstract: Recent studies have demonstrated that the use of paramagnetic hepatobiliary contrast agents in the acquisition of magnetic resonance images remarkably improves the detection and differentiation of focal liver lesions, as compared with extracellular contrast agents. Paramagnetic hepatobiliary contrast agents initially show the perfusion of the lesions, as do extracellular agents, but delayed contrast-enhanced images can demonstrate contrast uptake by functional hepatocytes, providing further information for a better characterization of the lesions. Additionally, this intrinsic characteristic increases the accuracy in the detection of hepatocellular carcinomas and metastases, particularly the small-sized ones. Recently, a hepatobiliary contrast agent called gadolinium ethoxybenzyl dimeglumine, that is simply known as gadoxetic acid, was approved by the National Health Surveillance Agency for use in humans. The authors present a literature review and a practical approach of magnetic resonance imaging utilizing gadoxetic acid as contrast agent, based on patients' images acquired during their initial experiment.
authors: MDs, Fellows, Abdominal Imaging, Department of Imaging Diagnosis - Escola Paulista de Medicina da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Renata Lilian
authors: RL
authors: Bormann
authors: MDs, Fellows, Abdominal Imaging, Department of Imaging Diagnosis - Escola Paulista de Medicina da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Eduardo Lima
authors: EL
authors: da Rocha
authors: MDs, Fellows, Abdominal Imaging, Department of Imaging Diagnosis - Escola Paulista de Medicina da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Marcelo Longo
authors: ML
authors: Kierzenbaum
authors: MDs, Fellows, Abdominal Imaging, Department of Imaging Diagnosis - Escola Paulista de Medicina da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Bruno Cheregati
authors: BC
authors: Pedrassa
authors: MD, Master, Department of Imaging Diagnosis - Escola Paulista de Medicina da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Lucas Rios
authors: LR
authors: Torres
authors: Associate Professor, Department of Imaging Diagnosis - Escola Paulista de Medicina da Universidade Federal de São Paulo (EPM-Unifesp), São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors: Giuseppe
authors: G
authors: D'Ippolito
keywords: Contrast media; Gadolinium; Liver; Magnetic resonance imaging