title: ESGAR consensus statement on liver MR imaging and clinical use of liver-specific contrast agents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop a consensus and provide updated recommendations on liver MR imaging and the clinical use of liver-specific contrast agents.
  
  
  METHODS
  The European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) formed a multinational European panel of experts, selected on the basis of a literature review and their leadership in the field of liver MR imaging. A modified Delphi process was adopted to draft a list of statements. Descriptive and Cronbach's statistics were used to rate levels of agreement and internal reliability of the consensus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three Delphi rounds were conducted and 76 statements composed on MR technique (n = 17), clinical application of liver-specific contrast agents in benign, focal liver lesions (n = 7), malignant liver lesions in non-cirrhotic (n = 9) and in cirrhotic patients (n = 18), diffuse and vascular liver diseases (n = 12), and bile ducts (n = 13). The overall mean score of agreement was 4.84 (SD ±0.17). Full consensus was reached in 22 % of all statements in all working groups, with no full consensus reached on diffuse and vascular diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The consensus provided updated recommendations on the methodology, and clinical indications, of MRI with liver specific contrast agents in the study of liver diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  • Liver-specific contrast agents are recommended in MRI of the liver. • The hepatobiliary phase improves the detection and characterization of hepatocellular lesions. • Liver-specific contrast agents can improve the detection of HCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. emanuele.neri@med.unipi.it.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Neri
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hôpital Erasme, MRI Clinics, Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Bali
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, The General Hospital of the Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ba-Ssalamah
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boraschi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brancatelli
authors.affiliation: Medical Imaging Department and Faculty of Medicine, University Hospital of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: F Caseiro
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Spedali Civili di Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grazioli
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Klinikum Bogenhausen, Academic Teaching Hospital of the Technical University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Helmberger
authors.affiliation: Division of Abdominal Imaging, Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Manfredi
authors.affiliation: Área Clínica de Imagen Médica, Hospital Universitario y Politécnico La Fe, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martì-Bonmatì
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hôpital Erasme, MRI Clinics, Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matos
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Radiologie und Nuklearmedizin, Universitätsspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Merkle
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, Belgium.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Op De Beeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, KH Goettlicher Heiland, Krankenhaus der Barmherzigen Schwestern and Sankt Josef-Krankenhaus, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schima
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, St Vincent's University Hospital, Elm Park, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skehan
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, APHP, Hôpital Beaujon, Clichy, Paris, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vilgrain
authors.affiliation: Abteilungsleiter Interventionelle Radiologie, Klinik für Radiologie und Nuklearmedizin, Universitätsspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zech
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bartolozzi
mesh_terms: D018248:Adenoma, Liver Cell / Q000473:pathology; D001652:Bile Ducts / Q000473:pathology; D032921:Consensus; D003287:Contrast Media; D003697:Delphi Technique; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media
keywords: Biliary tract; Contrast media; Delphi technique; Liver; Magnetic resonance imaging