Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate whether incorporation of a 3D turbo spin-echo sequence during T2-weighted MR imaging improves the detection of focal hepatic lesions by 3T MR imaging.
Materials and methods
Seventy-nine consecutive patients including 67 patients with 62 malignant and 71 benign lesions and 12 patients having no hepatic lesion underwent respiratory-triggered fat-suppressed axial T2-weighted turbo spin-echo imaging using two-dimensional (2D-TSE) and 3D (3D-TSE) sequences. Coronal multiplanar reformatted images (MPR-3D-TSE) were generated from 3D-TSE images. Breath-hold fat-suppressed 2D axial T2-weighted half-Fourier turbo spin-echo (HF-2D-TSE) images were combined for reading. Two independent radiologists reviewed three imaging sets, (1) 2D-TSE and HF-2D-TSE, (2) 3D-TSE and HF-2D-TSE, and (3) 3D-TSE, HF-2D-TSE and MPR-3D-TSE, for detection of malignant and benign lesions. Lesion-to-liver contrast ratio (CR) and the conspicuity of anatomical boundaries were assessed.
Results
For benign lesions, lesion-to-liver CRs with 3D-TSE (2.77 ± 1.91, p = .0002) and MPR-3D-TSE (2.47 ± 1.42, p = .012) were higher than with 2D-TSE (2.13 ± 1.80). Sensitivity for lesions of ≤10-mm was higher with 3D-TSE (86 %, p = .0039) and MPR-3D-TSE (84 %, p = .0078) than with 2D-TSE (72 %). However, the edge of left lateral lobe was less conspicuous with 3D-TSE (p < .0001) and MPR-3D-TSE (p = .0003) than with 2D-TSE because of susceptibility artifacts.
Conclusion
Incorporation of 3D T2-weighted sequence may incrementally improve the detection of focal hepatic lesions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Heslin MJ, Medina-Franco H, Parker M, Vickers SM, Aldrete J, Urist MM. Colorectal hepatic metastases: resection, local ablation, and hepatic artery infusion pump are associated with prolonged survival. Arch Surg. 2001;136:318–23.
Llovet JM, Bruix J. Systematic review of randomized trials for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma: chemoembolization improves survival. Hepatology. 2003;37:429–42.
Soyer P, Normand SL, Givry SC, Gueye C, Somveille E, Scherrer A. T2-weighted spin-echo MR imaging of the liver: breath-hold fast spin-echo versus non-breath-hold fast spin-echo images with and without fat suppression. AJR. 1996;166:593–7.
Schwartz LH, Seltzer SE, Tempany CM, Silverman SG, Piwnica-Worms DR, Adams DF, et al. Prospective comparison of T2-weighted fast spin-echo, with and without fat suppression, and conventional spin-echo pulse sequences in the upper abdomen. Radiology. 1993;189:411–6.
Mirowitz SA. T2-weighted fast spin-echo MR imaging of the liver. AJR. 1998;171:263–4.
Kanematsu M, Hoshi H, Itoh K, Murakami T, Hori M, Kondo H, et al. Focal hepatic lesion detection: comparison of four fat-suppressed T2-weighted MR imaging pulse sequences. Radiology. 1999;211:363–71.
Huang J, Raman SS, Vuong N, Sayre JW, Lu DS. Utility of breath-hold fast-recovery fast spin-echo T2 versus respiratory-triggered fast spin-echo T2 in clinical hepatic imaging. AJR. 2005;184:842–6.
Kim BS, Kim JH, Choi GM, Kim SH, Park JK, Song BC, et al. Comparison of three free-breathing T2-weighted MRI sequences in the evaluation of focal liver lesions. AJR. 2008;190:W19–27.
Augui J, Vignaux O, Argaud C, Coste J, Gouya H, Legmann P. Liver: T2-weighted MR imaging with breath-hold fast-recovery optimized fast spin-echo compared with breath-hold half-Fourier and non-breath-hold respiratory-triggered fast spin-echo pulse sequences. Radiology. 2002;223:853–9.
de Bazelaire CM, Duhamel GD, Rofsky NM, Alsop DC. MR imaging relaxation times of abdominal and pelvic tissues measured in vivo at 3.0 T: preliminary results. Radiology. 2004;230:652–9.
Constable RT, Gore JC. The loss of small objects in variable TE imaging: implications for FSE, RARE, and EPI. Magn Reson Med. 1992;28:9–24.
Yu JS, Kim KW, Jeong MG, Lee JT, Yoo HS. Nontumorous hepatic arterial-portal venous shunts: MR imaging findings. Radiology. 2000;217:750–6.
Martí-Bonmatí L, Talens A, del Olmo J, de Val A, Serra MA, Rodrigo JM, et al. Chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis: evaluation by means of MR imaging with histologic correlation. Radiology. 1993;188:37–43.
Semelka RC, Chung JJ, Hussain SM, Marcos HB, Woosley JT. Chronic hepatitis: correlation of early patchy and late linear enhancement patterns on gadolinium-enhanced MR images with histopathology initial experience. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2001;13:385–91.
Frericks BB, Loddenkemper C, Huppertz A, Valdeig S, Stroux A, Seja M, et al. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhotic liver enhancement using Gd-EOB-DTPA. AJR. 2009;193:1053–60.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported in part by the Grant for Scientific Research Expenses for Health, Labor, and Welfare Programs; Foundation for the Promotion of Cancer Research; and Research on Cancer Prevention and Health Services.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Watanabe, H., Kanematsu, M., Goshima, S. et al. Detection of focal hepatic lesions with 3-T MRI: comparison of two-dimensional and three-dimensional T2-weighted sequences. Jpn J Radiol 30, 721–728 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-012-0111-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-012-0111-6