Intraindividual comparison of 3-T and 5-T gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI for evaluating HCC: initial findings.
Authors
Affiliations (4)
Affiliations (4)
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Clinical Research Center for Hepatobiliary Diseases, Hefei, China.
- Central Research Institute, United Imaging Healthcare, Shanghai, China.
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Anhui Provincial Clinical Research Center for Hepatobiliary Diseases, Hefei, China. [email protected].
Abstract
We aimed to evaluate the utility of 5-T Gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by intraindividual comparison with 3-T MRI, with a focus on the image quality and diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We prospectively enrolled 41 patients with suspected HCC who underwent dynamic Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI using both 5-T and 3-T scanners. Artificial intelligence-assisted compressed sensing (ACS) and parallel imaging (PI) were both used for hepatobiliary phase (HBP) imaging at 5-T. Two radiologists performed qualitative and quantitative assessments of image quality and evaluations of imaging features. Wilcoxon signed-rank, paired χ<sup>2</sup>, and Cochran Q tests as well as intraclass correlation coefficients and the Cohen κ value were used. All subjective image quality scores ranged from good to excellent. The subjective scores of contrast-enhanced phases for 5-T images were higher than those for 3-T images (all p < 0.05), except for image artifacts. For diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), the subjective scores of the clarity of the lesion margins on 5-T images were higher than those on 3-T images (p = 0.021). Quantitative measures were also greater for 5-T images (all p < 0.05). For DWI, the contrast ratio (CR) at 5-T was greater (p < 0.05). Subjective and quantitative assessments of HBP imaging were higher with ACS (all p < 0.05). The detection rate of enhancing capsule was greater for 5-T images (p = 0.016), as was the rate of peritumoral hypointensity on the HBP images at 5-T using ACS (p = 0.015). Compared with 3-T MRI, liver dynamic Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced 5-T MRI demonstrated superior image quality for contrast-enhanced phases and greater sensitivity in detecting enhancing capsule in HCC. The integration of 5-T MRI and ACS technology has the potential to further improve image quality and the assessment of imaging features. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced 5-T MRI provides promising potential for accurate HCC evaluation.