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Abdominal MRI at 3.0 T: LAVA‐flex compared with conventional fat suppression T1‐weighted images
Author(s) -
Li Xing Hui,
Zhu Jiang,
Zhang Xiao Ming,
Ji Yi Fan,
Chen Tian Wu,
Huang Xiao Hua,
Yang Lin,
Zeng Nan Lin
Publication year - 2014
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.24329
Subject(s) - medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , image quality , radiology , gadoxetic acid , fatty liver , nuclear medicine , artifact (error) , abdomen , pathology , disease , artificial intelligence , neuroscience , gadolinium dtpa , biology , computer science , image (mathematics)
Purpose To study liver imaging with volume acceleration‐flexible (LAVA‐Flex) for abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 3.0 T and compare the image quality of abdominal organs between LAVA‐Flex and fast spoiled gradient‐recalled (FSPGR) T1‐weighted imaging. Materials and Methods Our Institutional Review Board approval was obtained in this retrospective study. Sixty‐nine subjects had both FSPGR and LAVA‐Flex sequences. Two radiologists independently scored the acquisitions for image quality, fat suppression quality, and artifacts and the values obtained were compared with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. According to the signal intensity (SI) measurements, the uniformity of fat suppression, the contrast between muscle and fat and normal liver and liver lesions were compared by the paired t ‐test. The liver and spleen SI on the fat‐only phase were analyzed in the fatty liver patients. Results Compared with FSPGR imaging, LAVA‐Flex images had better and more homogenous fat suppression and lower susceptibility artifact (qualitative scores: 4.70 vs. 4.00, 4.86% vs. 7.14%, 4.60 and 4.10, respectively). The contrast between muscle and fat and between the liver and pathologic lesions was significantly improved on the LAVA‐Flex sequence. The contrast value of the fatty liver and spleen was higher than that of the liver and spleen. Conclusion The LAVA‐Flex sequence offers superior and more homogenous fat suppression of the abdomen than does the FSPGR sequence. The fat‐only phase can be a simple and effective method of assessing fatty liver. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2014;40:58–66 . © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc .