Contrast enhancement in experimental radiation-induced liver injury: Comparison of hepatocellular and reticuloendothelial particulate contrast agents

✍ Scribed by Michael Stiskal; Heidi C. Schwickert; Franci Demsar; Timothy P. L. Roberts; Dieter Szolar; Ralph Weissleder; Robert C. Brasch

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 684 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-1807
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.1880060205

✦ Synopsis

We compared the liver enhancement of two superparamagnetic agents, polycrystalline iron oxide nanoparticles (PION) and PION coated with asialofetuin (ASF), in an experimental model of focal radiation-induced hepatitis. PION, a reticuloendothelial system-directed agent, and PION-ASF, a hepatocellular-directed agent, were compared for time-dependent liver enhancement in an experimental model of radiation-induced liver injury. Using the reticuloendothelial system (RES)-directed PION, the normal, nonirradiated portion of the liver decreased in signal intensity (SI) with a mean negative enhancement of -66% +/- 4, whereas the irradiated portion (60 Gy, 3 days before imaging) of the liver decreased in SI by -24% +/- 2, significantly less (P <.05). SI changes in irradiated liver tissue using PION were dose-dependent, being more pronounced with lower radiation exposure. The difference in SI changes induced by PION-ASF between irradiated and nonirradiated liver was not statistically different, but SI decreased with a mean negative enhancement of -80% +/- 2. The RES-directed PION is more sensitive for the detection of radiation-induced hepatitis than is the hepatocyte-directed PION-ASF. The insensitivity of PION-ASF enhancement for diffuse liver injury may be clinically advantageous for detecting focal lesions in the presence of diffuse hepatic injury.