Single breath-hold multiarterial dynamic MRI of the liver at 3T using a 3D fat-suppressed keyhole technique

✍ Scribed by Hye-Suk Hong; Hua Sun Kim; Myeong-Jin Kim; Jan De Becker; Donald G. Mitchell; Masayuki Kanematsu

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 351 KB
• Volume: 28
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-1807
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21442

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the feasibility of single breath‐hold, multiarterial MRI of the liver using the THRIVE‐CENTRA‐keyhole technique.

Materials and Methods

Twenty‐eight patients with 63 focal hepatic lesions underwent liver MR examinations that included the three‐dimensional THRIVE‐CENTRA‐keyhole sequence. Three or six phases were obtained for arterial phase scanning during a single breath‐hold. Central k‐space data were collected for each phase but the remaining peripheral k‐space data were collected only once. The enhancement pattern of each hepatic lesion was analyzed according to the specific diagnosis.

Results

Hepatocellular carcinomas (n = 24) enhancement patterns included: rim enhancing (n = 9), homogeneous (n = 7), nodule‐in‐nodule (n = 5), or heterogeneous (n = 3). A late peritumoral rim was observed in four (17%) of the hepatocellular carcinomas. Most metastases (17 of 18; 94%) demonstrated peripheral rim enhancement. The progressive centripetal enhancement of hemangiomas (n = 6) was clearly depicted. Focal nodular hyperplasia (n = 4) showed early homogeneous enhancement and one lesion demonstrated a central scar.

Conclusion

The THRIVE‐CENTRA‐keyhole technique can be used to acquire single breath‐hold, multiarterial images depicting improved enhancement characteristics of focal hepatic lesions. This technique will allow accurate timing of arterial scanning with 3D acquisition and high temporal resolution. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;28:396–402. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.