Assessment of renal lesions with blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI at 3 T: preliminary experience

The purpose of this article is to prospectively determine the feasibility of using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI at 3 T in differentiating various renal lesions.

Seventy-one patients (mean age, 53.8 years; range, 22-80 years) underwent kidney MRI, including BOLD MRI at 3 T. BOLD MRI was performed using a multiple fast-field echo (FFE) sequence to acquire 20 T2(*)-weighted images within a single breath-hold. The rate of spin dephasing (R2(*)) values of solid and benign cystic renal lesions were compared, and the results of four subgroups--simple cysts, renal cell carcinomas (RCCs), hemorrhagic cysts, and angiomyolipomas (AMLs)--were analyzed. The degree of overall imaging quality in BOLD MRI was also assessed.

One hundred three renal lesions were detected in the 71 patients. The mean (± SD) R2(*) values of 45 solid lesions (30.6 ± 19.4 1/s) were significantly higher than those of 58 benign cystic lesions (4.5 ± 4.8 1/s; p < 0.001). The mean R2(*) values of simple cysts, RCCs, hemorrhagic cysts, and AMLs were 1.7 ± 1.7, 22.6 ± 12.6, 10.7 ± 3.7, and 48.0 ± 25.5 1/s, respectively (p < 0.001). The degree of overall imaging quality in all patients was satisfactory or better.

Renal BOLD MRI at 3 T is a feasible technique and may be useful for differentiating various renal lesions.