Hepatic MR imaging with Mn-DPDP: safety, image quality, and sensitivity

Ninety-six patients with known or suspected focal hepatic disease were evaluated in a multiinstitutional study of manganese (II) N,N'-dipyridoxylethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetate 5,5'bis(phosphate) (DPDP) as a hepatic-specific contrast agent for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The patients were divided into four dose groups, receiving 3, 5, 8, or 10 mol/kg of Mn-DPDP. Half of the patients in each dose group received Mn-DPDP as an intravenous bolus (0.25 mL/sec) and the other half as an infusion (1 mL/min). Patients were evaluated with T1-weighted imaging parameters. No serious side effects were noted. In 76 patients, both Mn-DPDP-enhanced and nonenhanced T1-weighted images depicted the same number of lesions, but one additional lesion was depicted with enhanced imaging in 12 patients, two additional lesions in three patients, and three additional lesions in three patients. Enhanced, T1-weighted images depicted no more lesions than nonenhanced, T2-weighted images in 77 patients, but one more lesion was depicted in nine patients, two more lesions in two patients, three more lesions in one patient, and four more lesions in one patient.