TY - JOUR
T1 - Perfusion MR imaging with a superparamagnetic iron oxide using T2- weighted and susceptibility-sensitive echoplanar sequences
T2 - Evaluation of tumor vascularity in hepatocellular carcinoma
AU - Ichikawa, Tomoaki
AU - Arbab, Ali S.
AU - Araki, Tsutomu
AU - Touyama, Keiji
AU - Haradome, Hiroki
AU - Hachiya, Junichi
AU - Yamaguchi, Motoshi
AU - Kumagai, Hiroshi
AU - Aoki, Shigeki
PY - 1999/7
Y1 - 1999/7
N2 - OBJECTIVE. The study purpose was to examine the usefulness of perfusion echoplanar MR imaging with a superparamagnetic iron oxide (SHU-555A) for evaluating the vascularity of hepatocellular carcinomas. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Twenty-two patients with 32 hepatocellular carcinomas underwent perfusion imaging with bolus injection (0.7-1.1 ml) of SHU-555A. Echoplanar sequences included multishot spin-echo (17 patients) and single-shot gradient-echo (five patients) imaging. Image acquisition was repeated every 30 sec for 3 min with the multishot spin-echo sequence and every 2 sec for 100 sec with the single-shot gradient-echo sequence. Lesion signal intensity versus time curves were created for quantitative analysis. RESULTS. Transient decreases in tumor signal intensity (28.8% with multishot spin-echo and 63.3% with the single-shot gradient-echo) were seen in the perfusion phase. These decreases in signal intensity were statistically significantly (p < .01) different for each histologic type of hepatocellular carcinoma (poorly differentiated, 43.3%; well differentiated, 18.4%; and moderately differentiated, 24.8%). After the perfusion phase, the tumor signal intensities rapidly recovered. The multishot spin-echo sequence could detect some signal changes even in lesions smaller than 1 cm. CONCLUSION. Hepatocellular carcinoma vascularity can be evaluated with perfusion echoplanar imaging with SHU-555A. Because of its excellent temporal resolution, the singleshot gradient-echo echoplanar sequence detects the transient signal decrease in most lesions. The high image quality of the multishot spin-echo echoplanar sequence allows evaluation of the vascularity of even very small lesions.
AB - OBJECTIVE. The study purpose was to examine the usefulness of perfusion echoplanar MR imaging with a superparamagnetic iron oxide (SHU-555A) for evaluating the vascularity of hepatocellular carcinomas. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Twenty-two patients with 32 hepatocellular carcinomas underwent perfusion imaging with bolus injection (0.7-1.1 ml) of SHU-555A. Echoplanar sequences included multishot spin-echo (17 patients) and single-shot gradient-echo (five patients) imaging. Image acquisition was repeated every 30 sec for 3 min with the multishot spin-echo sequence and every 2 sec for 100 sec with the single-shot gradient-echo sequence. Lesion signal intensity versus time curves were created for quantitative analysis. RESULTS. Transient decreases in tumor signal intensity (28.8% with multishot spin-echo and 63.3% with the single-shot gradient-echo) were seen in the perfusion phase. These decreases in signal intensity were statistically significantly (p < .01) different for each histologic type of hepatocellular carcinoma (poorly differentiated, 43.3%; well differentiated, 18.4%; and moderately differentiated, 24.8%). After the perfusion phase, the tumor signal intensities rapidly recovered. The multishot spin-echo sequence could detect some signal changes even in lesions smaller than 1 cm. CONCLUSION. Hepatocellular carcinoma vascularity can be evaluated with perfusion echoplanar imaging with SHU-555A. Because of its excellent temporal resolution, the singleshot gradient-echo echoplanar sequence detects the transient signal decrease in most lesions. The high image quality of the multishot spin-echo echoplanar sequence allows evaluation of the vascularity of even very small lesions.
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U2 - 10.2214/ajr.173.1.10397128
DO - 10.2214/ajr.173.1.10397128
M3 - Article
C2 - 10397128
AN - SCOPUS:0032965593
SN - 0361-803X
VL - 173
SP - 207
EP - 213
JO - American Journal of Roentgenology
JF - American Journal of Roentgenology
IS - 1
ER -