Influence of dilution on arterial-phase artifacts and signal intensity on gadoxetic acid–enhanced liver MRI

作者：Sarah Poetter‐Lang, Gregor Dovjak, Alina Messner, Raphael Ambros, Stephan H. Polanec, Pascal Baltzer, Antonia Kristic, Alexander Herold, Jacqueline C. Hodge, Michael Weber, Nina Bastati, Ahmed Ba‐Ssalamah · 发表于：European Radiology · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1007/s00330-022-08984-0 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications、MRI in cancer diagnosis、Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis

Abstract Objectives To investigate the effect of saline-diluted gadoxetic acid, done for arterial-phase (AP) artifact reduction, on signal intensity (SI), and hence focal lesion conspicuity on MR imaging. Methods We retrospectively examined 112 patients who each had at least two serial gadoxetic acid–enhanced liver MRIs performed at 1 ml/s, first with non-diluted (ND), then with 1:1 saline-diluted (D) contrast. Two blinded readers independently analyzed the artifacts and graded dynamic images using a 5-point scale. The absolute SI of liver parenchyma, focal liver lesions (if present), aorta, and portal vein at the level of the celiac trunk and the SI of the paraspinal muscle were measured in all phases. The signal-to-norm (SI Norm ) of the vascular structures, hepatic parenchyma and focal lesions, and the contrast-to-norm ( C Norm ) of focal liver lesions were calculated. Results AP artifacts were significantly reduced with dilution. Mean absolute contrast-enhanced liver SI was significantly higher on the D exams compared to the ND exams. Likewise, SI Norm of liver parenchyma was significantly higher in all contrast-enhanced phases except transitional phase on the D exams. SI Norm values in the AP for the aorta and in the PVP for portal vein were significantly higher on the diluted exams. The C Norm was not significantly different between ND and D exams for lesions in any imaging phase. The interclass correlation coefficient was excellent (0.89). Conclusion Gadoxetic acid dil...