• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.115-120
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• 2015

To study the differences of focal liver lesion image detection at 3 minute, 10 minute and 15 minute time points on gadoxetic acid (GA)'s enhanced MR imaging with a flip angle (FA) of $30^{\circ}$ compared with a $11^{\circ}$. The subjects were 69 patients evaluated with GA enhanced MR imaging with 3.0T MR scanner. The patients are total 35(23 men and 7 women at the mean age of 60.4 years), hepatocellular carcinoma(23) and metastsis(12) except for normal, cyst and hemangioma. After GA was injected, FA $11^{\circ}$ and $30^{\circ}$ images were obtained at 3 minute, 10 minute and 15 minute time points respectively. After quantitative and qualitative assessment of each image was done, statistical analysis was performed by using the independent sample T-test. From both quantitative and qualitative assessment of 3 minute and 10 minute MR images after the injection of GA, FA $30^{\circ}$ images was found to be superior than FA $11^{\circ}$, but there were no statistical significance. However, at 15 minute time point, Statistically significant FA $30^{\circ}$ image(p<0.05) was better than FA $11^{\circ}$ therefore, the FA $30^{\circ}$ improves the focal liver lesion detection. FA $30^{\circ}$ of MR image can detect liver lesion more sensitively than the existing $FA11^{\circ}$ image after GA contrast enhancement at 15 minute time point.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.71-81
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• 2017

Purpose: To compare three, motion-resistant, T1-weighted MR sequences on the hepatobiliary phase for gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging of the liver. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 79 patients underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced, 3T liver MR imaging. Fifty-nine were examined using a standard protocol, and 20 were examined using a motion-resistant protocol. During the hepatocyte-specific phase, three MR sequences were acquired: 1) gradient recalled echo (GRE) with controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA); 2) radial GRE with the interleaved angle-bisection scheme (ILAB); and 3) radial GRE with golden-angle scheme (GA). Two readers independently assessed images with motion artifacts, streaking artifacts, liver-edge sharpness, hepatic vessel clarity, lesion conspicuity, and overall image quality, using a 5-point scale. The images were assessed by measurement of liver signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and tumor-to-liver contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). The results were compared, using repeated post-hoc, paired t-tests with Bonferroni correction and the Wilcoxon signed rank test with Bonferroni correction. Results: In the qualitative analysis of cooperative patients, the results for CAIPIRINHA had significantly higher ratings for streak artifacts, liver-edge sharpness, hepatic vessel clarity, and overall image quality as compared to, radial GRE, (P < 0.016). In the imaging of uncooperative patients, higher scores were recorded for ILAB and GA with respect to all of the qualitative assessments, except for streak artifact, compared with CAIPIRINHA (P < 0.016). However, no significant differences were found between ILAB and GA. For quantitative analysis in uncooperative patients, the mean liver SNR and lesion-to-liver CNR with radial GRE were significantly higher than those of CAIPIRINHA (P < 0.016). Conclusion: In uncooperative patients, the use of the radial GRE sequence can improve the image quality compared to GRE imaging with CAIPIRINHA, despite the data acquisition methods used. The GRE imaging with CAIPIRINHA is applicable for patients without breath-holding difficulties.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.82 no.5
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• pp.1218-1230
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• 2021

Purpose To compare the per-patient diagnostic performance of simulated abbreviated MRI (AMRI) to that of conventional MRI (CMRI) with full-sequence dynamic gadoxetic acid (GA) enhancement for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening in high-risk patients. Materials and Methods A total of 201 consecutive patients at high-risk for HCC, who underwent 3T liver MRI, were included in this retrospective study. The AMRI protocol comprised T2-weighted imaging, hepatobiliary phase imaging after GA injection, and diffusion-weighted imaging. For each patient, two AMRI and CMRI image sets were independently reviewed by two radiologists. Inter-reader agreement was assessed using Cohen's kappa value. A composite reference standard was used to determine the diagnostic performance of each image set for each reader. Results A total of 93 HCCs were detected in 79 patients. The inter-reader agreement was almost perfect for both image sets (κ = 0.839, 0.948). In AMRI, the per-patient sensitivity and negative predictive values (NPV) were 94.9% and 96.4%, respectively. In CMRI, the per-patient sensitivity and NPV were 96.2% and 97.5%, respectively. Conclusion AMRI, using only three sequences, had a comparable diagnostic performance to CMRI in screening early-stage HCC. AMRI could be an alternative HCC screening tool for high-risk HCC patients.