Possible utility of MRI using Gd-EOB-DTPA for estimating liver functional reserve

Preoperative estimation of the liver functional reserve is important in liver surgery. We evaluated the role of dynamic magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA), i.e., EOB-MRI, for determining liver functional reserve.

Fifty patients who underwent EOB-MRI to examine their liver tumors were included in this study. We first performed a pixel-by-pixel comparison of registered MR images and activity images with Tc-99m galactosyl human serum albumin (GSA) on each slice, and the correlation coefficient was calculated for 8 patients. We also determined the correlation coefficient between the relative signal intensity (SI) values of EOB-MRI and preoperative liver function, such as the GSA, indocyanine green dye retention at 15 min (ICGR15), and prothrombin time.

The mean of the correlation coefficients for 512 × 512 matrices between the EOB-MRI and the GSA was 0.83 ± 0.05 (ranging from 0.73 to 0.87). The correlation coefficient between the relative SI of the EOB-MRI and the receptor index (LHL15) of GSA was 0.56 (P < 0.01). Better correlation coefficients were observed between the relative SI and the liver function test, including ICGR15 (r = -0.67, P < 0.01) and prothrombin time (r = 0.59, P < 0.01). In a patient with hilar cholangiocarcinoma whose right hepatic duct was obstructed, the relative SI in the right lobe (2.4 ± 0.3) was significantly lower than that in the left lobe (3.1 ± 0.1).

EOB-MRI represents a practical and reliable imaging technique that may be used to estimate regional liver functional reserve in the clinical setting.