Abstract
Objective
To compare spin-echo echoplanar imaging (SE-EPI) and gradient recalled echo (GRE) MR elastography (MRE) at 3 T with and without gadoxetic acid administration.
Methods
We included 84 patients who underwent MRE before and after gadoxetic acid administration, each time using SE-EPI and GRE sequences. Diagnostic performance for predicting clinical liver cirrhosis and high-risk oesophageal varices was assessed using the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC). The relationships between T2* and success of MRE, and correlations of liver stiffness (LS) values between the two sequences or before and after gadoxetic acid administration, were investigated.
Results
SE-EPI-MRE resulted in a significantly lower failure rate than GRE-MRE (1.19% vs. 10.71%, P = 0.018). Increased T2* was related to higher probability of successful LS measurement (odds ratio, 1.426; P = 0.004). The AUC of SE-EPI-MRE was comparable to that of GRE-MRE for the detection of clinical liver cirrhosis (0.938 vs. 0.948, P = 0.235) and high-risk oesophageal varices (0.839 vs. 0.752, P = 0.354). LS values were not significantly different before and after gadoxetic acid administration.
Conclusion
SE-EPI-MRE can substitute for GRE-MRE for the detection of clinical liver cirrhosis and high-risk oesophageal varices. SE-EPI-MRE is particularly useful in patients with iron deposition, with lower failure rates than GRE-MRE.
Key Points
• LS values are comparable between SE-EPI-MRE and GRE-MRE.
• Administration of gadoxetic acid does not influence LS measurement.
• The failure rate of SE-EPI-MRE is significantly lower than that of GRE-MRE.
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Abbreviations
- LS:
-
Liver stiffness
- MRE:
-
Magnetic resonance elastography
- SE-EPI:
-
Spin-echo echoplanar imaging
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr. Takayuki Obata (National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Japan), Dr. Mikio Suga (Chiba University, Japan) and Dr. Takayuki Abe (Siemens Japan SJKK) for their scientific contributions to SE-EPI-MRE. The authors thank the MR radiographers of our unit, Mr. Hyun-Geun Lee, Mr. Dae-Hyun Kim, Mr. Keun-Taek Oh and Mr. Eun-Seong Kim, for technical assistance with MR studies.
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The scientific guarantor of this publication is Ji Soo Song.
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The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.
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This paper was supported by the Fund of Biomedical Research Institute, Chonbuk National University Hospital
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No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.
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Institutional review board approval was obtained.
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The requirement for written informed consent was waived for review of patient records and images.
Methodology
• retrospective
• observational
• performed at one institution
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Kim, Y.S., Song, J.S., Kannengiesser, S. et al. Comparison of spin-echo echoplanar imaging and gradient recalled echo-based MR elastography at 3 Tesla with and without gadoxetic acid administration. Eur Radiol 27, 4120–4128 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-017-4781-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-017-4781-4