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Consistency of hepatocellular gadoxetic acid uptake in serial MRI examinations for evaluation of liver function

  • Hepatobiliary
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Abstract

Purpose

To assess the consistency of liver enhancement in gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) over serial examinations.

Methods

This retrospective study included 554 patients who underwent at least 2 serial gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI scans at either 1.5 or 3.0 Tesla at our institution between 2014 and 2018. Signal intensities (SI) were measured on T1-weighted images before and approx. 20 min after intravenous injection of gadoxetic acid. Relative enhancement (RE) of the liver, liver-to-spleen SI ratio (LSR), and liver-to-muscle SI ratio (LMR) were calculated. Means were compared with the paired t test, Greenhouse–Geisser test, and linear mixed model analysis, accordingly. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to elucidate possible predictors of RE and bivariate correlation analysis of patient age with RE was performed.

Results

No statistically significant difference in RE, LSR, and LMR between two consecutive MRI scans was found when tested with paired t test or Greenhouse–Geisser test (n = 554, 519, and 554, respectively), while the latter revealed a statistically significant difference between the first and fourth MRI scan which was not confirmed in the linear mixed model. Patient age correlated negatively with RE of the liver (p = 0.002), LSR (p < 0.001), and LMR (p = 0.006).

Conclusions

Relative enhancement of the liver in the hepatobiliary phase of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI is consistent over successive examinations, different scanner types, and field strengths while correlating negatively with age, which further underscores the validity of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI as an imaging-based liver function test.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Bettina Herwig for language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany

    Dorothea Theilig, Aboelyazid Elkilany, Bernd Hamm, Timm Denecke & Dominik Geisel

  2. Department of General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany

    Moritz Schmelzle

  3. Division of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Medical Department, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany

    Tobias Müller

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  1. Dorothea Theilig
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Correspondence to Dorothea Theilig.

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Theilig, D., Elkilany, A., Schmelzle, M. et al. Consistency of hepatocellular gadoxetic acid uptake in serial MRI examinations for evaluation of liver function. Abdom Radiol 44, 2759–2768 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-019-02036-w

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