Abstract:

Objective     To evaluate the usefulness of  three-dimensional fast acquisition  plus multiphase enhanced fast GRE(3D FAME) sequence at 3.0T MR in diagnosing hypervascular neoplasms of the liver. Methods     MR imaging was performed on 40 patients with hepatic neoplasms, including 26 hepatocellular carcinoma, 12  hemangioma  and  2 metastases. The imaging protocol consisted of a conventional plain scan and 3D FAME multi-phase dynamic scan (hepatic arterial,portal venous, equilibrium and delayed phases).Enhancement patterns were observed and  the time-signal intensity curve(TIC) was analyzed. Results      There were characteristic enhancement  patterns  identified among various types of hyper-vascular liver masses. The time-signal intensity curve reflected the hemodynamic changes of  the lesions. TIC of hepatocellular carcinoma was classified as: a) type Ⅰ: sharp incline and decline, which was seen in 69%（18/26) of cases; and b) type Ⅱ : sharp incline with flat decline, which was seen in 31%（8/26）of cases. TIC of hemangioma was classified as: a) type Ⅰ: flat incline  and plateau, which was seen in 67%（8/12）of cases; b)  type Ⅱ : sharp incline and plateau, which was seen in 33%(4/12) of cases. Two hyper-vascular metastases cases showed early peripheral-rim enhancement. Conclusion     3.0 T dynamic contrastenhanced MRI is very helpful in diagnosing different  hyper-vascular neoplasms of the liver.

Key words: Liver neoplasms; Magnetic resonance imaging; Dynamic contrast enhancement