Published in:
01-11-2013 | Magnetic Resonance
Contrast-enhanced free-breathing 3D T1-weighted gradient-echo sequence for hepatobiliary MRI in patients with breath-holding difficulties
Authors:
C. S. Reiner, A. M. Neville, H. K. Nazeer, S. Breault, B. M. Dale, E. M. Merkle, M. R. Bashir
Published in:
European Radiology
|
Issue 11/2013
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Abstract
Objective
Evaluate the image quality and diagnostic performance of a free-breathing 3D-gradient-echo sequence with radial acquisition (rGRE) compared with a Cartesian breath-hold 3D-GRE (cGRE) sequence on hepatobiliary phase MRI in patients with breath-holding difficulties.
Methods
Twenty-eight consecutive patients (15 males; mean age 61 ± 11.9 years) were analysed in this retrospective IRB-approved study. Breath-holding difficulties during gadoxetate-disodium-enhanced liver MRI manifested as breathing artefacts during dynamic-phase imaging. MRI included axial and coronal cGRE and a radially sampled rGRE sequence during the hepatobiliary phase. Two radiologists independently evaluated cGRE and rGRE images for image quality, liver lesion detection and conspicuity, and bile duct conspicuity on a four-point scale.
Results
Liver edge sharpness was significantly higher on rGRE images (P < 0.001). Overall image quality was slightly but significantly higher for rGRE than for cGRE (P < 0.001 and P = 0.039). Bile duct conspicuity scores of rGRE and cGRE were not significantly different. Sensitivity for detection of the 26 liver lesions was similar for rGRE and cGRE (81-77 % and 73-77 %, P = 0.5 and 1.0). Lesion conspicuity scores were significantly higher for rGRE for one reader (P = 0.012).
Conclusion
In patients with breath-holding difficulties, overall image quality and liver lesion conspicuity on hepatobiliary phase MRI can be improved using the rGRE sequence.
Key Points
• Patients with diminished breath-holding capacities present a major challenge in abdominal MRI.
• A free-breathing sequence for hepatobiliary-phase MRI can improve image quality.
• Further advances are needed to reduce acquisition time of the free-breathing gradient-echo sequence.