Detection of hepatic metastases with MR imaging: Spin-echo vs phase-contrast pulse sequences at 0.6 T

E. Rummeny, S. Saini, D. D. Stark, R. Weissleder, C. C. Compton, J. T. Ferrucci

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the sensitivity of T1-weighted and T2-weighted spin-echo (SE) pulse sequences with T2-weighted phase-contrast (PC) imaging techniques for the detection of hepatic metastases. Pulse-sequence performance was evaluated in 52 consecutive patients with 88 hepatic metastases who underwent MR imaging at 0.6 T. Lesion-liver contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) on SE 260/14 (-12.4 ± 6.7) and PC 2350/60 (+10.8 ± 4.2) images were significantly (p <.05) greater than on SE 2350/60 (+7.8 ± 3.9), SE 2350/120 (+8.1 ± 4.8), SE 2350/180 (+7.9 ± 4.5), and PC 2350/30 (+4.6 ± 2.9) images. Sensitivity for detection of 88 individual metastases was comparable on SE 260/14 (78 of 88 patients) and PC 2350/60 (81 of 88 patients) images and was significantly (p <.05) greater than on in-phase T2-weighted SE images (TE = 60, 70 of 88 patients; TE = 120, 69 of 88 patients; TE = 180, 65 of 88 patients). Histologic analysis of tumor-free liver showed fatty change in 11 of 13 specimens available for pathologic evaluation. In all 11 of those patients, PC images increased tumor-liver contrast in comparison with the in-phase SE images. This analysis suggests that for detection of hepatic metastases at midfield strengths, the T1-weighted, short TR/short TE (SE 260/14) and the T2-weighted, phase-contrast (PC 2350/60) pulse sequences offer comparable performance.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1207-1211
Number of pages5
JournalAmerican Journal of Roentgenology
Volume153
Issue number6
StatePublished - 1989
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
  • Radiological and Ultrasound Technology

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