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Gadobenate dimeglumine (BOPTA) enhanced MR imaging: Patterns of enhancement in normal liver and cirrhosis
Author(s) -
Manfredi Riccardo,
Maresca Giulia,
Baron Richard L.,
De Franco Antonio,
De Gaetano Anna Maria,
Cotroneo Antonio R.,
Pirovano Giampaolo,
Spinazzi Alberto,
Marano Pasquale
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.1880080416
Subject(s) - cirrhosis , medicine , parenchyma , liver parenchyma , homogeneous , radiology , magnetic resonance imaging , biopsy , pathology , physics , thermodynamics
To determine whether gadobenate dimeglumine (BOPTA) will adequately enhance cirrhotic liver parenchyma, and to document the enhancement patterns in cirrhosis, 14 cirrhotic and 20 non‐cirrhotic patients were evaluated before and 60–120 minutes after gadolinium‐BOPTA. Proof of liver cirrhosis was biopsy (6), surgical resection (3), and clinical follow‐up (5). Enhancement effects were compared quantitatively by determining the liver signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and signal enhancement in both populations. Qualitatively assessment of the liver enhancement was performed and classified as homogeneous or heterogeneous. Quantitative analysis: cirrhotic liver parenchyma presented a higher increase in SNR values, relative to noncirrhotic liver parenchyma, on postcontrast images. Likewise the signal enhancement of cirrhotic liver parenchyma was superior to non‐cirrhotic liver on T1‐weighted SE images ( P = .02) and in‐phase GRE images ( P < .001). There was no statistical difference on out‐of‐phase GRE images. Qualitative analysis: on T1‐weighted SE postcontrast images, cirrhotic liver parenchyma showed a homogeneous enhancement in 7 patients and heterogeneous in 7. Whereas on GRE images, cirrhotic parenchyma showed heterogeneous enhancement in 9 patients and homogeneous in 5 patients. The heterogeneous enhancement was due to the presence of hypointense nodules in 7 patients and hyperintense nodules in 2 patients. In conclusion, our study has shown that the hepatobiliary contrast agent Gd‐BOPTA is effective in the cirrhotic liver, demonstrating an increased liver enhancement compared with non‐cirrhotic patients.