Uptake of Gd-EOB-DTPA in HCC is determined by expression of OATP1B3 rather than by tumor differentiation or bile production.

Combined radiofrequency ablation plus TACE and radiofrequency ablation alone have equivalent effectiveness for the treatment of small (< or =3 cm) HCCs, so the combination treatment may not be necessary.

Intravoxel incoherent motion parameters fp and Dt can discriminate renal tumor subtypes. Perfusion fraction demonstrates good correlation with CIAUC60 and can assess degree of tumor vascularity without the use of exogenous contrast agent.

With the BLADE technique, T2-weighted TSE images of the upper abdomen could provide reduced image artifacts including ghosting artifact and image noise and provide better image quality.

Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI showed higher accuracy in the detection of small metastases than DWI.

Purpose:To evaluate motion correction effect and image quality in the upper abdomen with the periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER) (BLADE) and parallel imaging acquisition technique. Materials and Methods:A total of 50 consecutive patients underwent abdominal MR imaging. Fat-saturated T2-weighted turbo spin-echo sequences were obtained by respiratory triggering. The subjects were examined with three different conditions of echo train length (ETL), blade width, and percent k-space coverage in the same scanning time: 19/30/100%, 30/30/100%, and 30/52/175%, which were designated as L/C(1), L/C(2), and L/C(3), respectively. The parallel imaging acquisition technique was used to either reduce ETL from 30 to 19 in L/C(1) or increase k-space coverage from 100% to 175% in L/C(3) compared with L/C(2). Motion and streak artifacts, and overall image quality were evaluated visually by two radiologists, independently.Results: Motion and streak artifacts were mostly reduced in L/C(3) condition. The L/C(3) image also gave the best overall image quality compared with other conditions (P Ͻ 0.001). The inter-rater reliability for each evaluation agreed well. Conclusion:In upper abdominal BLADE MRI, it was possible to reduce image artifacts and obtain better image quality by increasing the k-space coverage with parallel imaging in the same scanning time.

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Purpose:To compare and evaluate images acquired with two different MR angiography (MRA) sequences, three-dimensional (3D) half-Fourier fast spin-echo (FSE) and 3D true steady-state free-precession (SSFP) combined with two time-spatial labeling inversion pulses (T-SLIPs), for selective and non-contrast-enhanced (non-CE) visualization of the portal vein. Materials and Methods:Twenty healthy volunteers were examined using half-Fourier FSE and true SSFP sequences on a 1.5T MRI system with two T-SLIPs, one placed on the liver and thorax, and the other on the lower abdomen. For quantitative analysis, vessel-to-liver contrast (Cv-l) ratios of the main portal vein (MPV), right portal vein (RPV), and left portal vein (LPV) were measured. The quality of visualization was also evaluated. Results:In both pulse sequences, selective visualization of the portal vein was successfully conducted in all 20 volunteers. Quantitative evaluation showed significantly better Cv-l at the RPVs and LPVs in half-Fourier FSE (P Ͻ 0.0001). At the MPV, Cv-l was better in true SSFP, but was not statistically different. Visualization scores were significantly better only at branches of segments four and eight for half-Fourier FSE (P ϭ 0.001 and 0.03, respectively). Conclusion:Both 3D half-Fourier FSE and true SSFP scans with T-SLIPs enabled selective non-CE visualization of the portal vein. Half-Fourier FSE was considered appropriate for intrahepatic portal vein visualization, and true SSFP may be preferable when visualization of the MPV is required.