[Short TR--short TE and UTSS sequences compared in a NMR study of focal neoplastic pathology in the liver]

From December 1987 to January 1989, 66 patients were studied by liver MR imaging: 38 of them were found to have liver tumors, and 28 were studied as a control group. The authors' purpose was to compare the diagnostic accuracy of 0.5 T MR imaging to that of other techniques (CT and US), using mixed Spin-Echo and Inversion Recovery sequences (UTSS). Spin-Echo sequences were used first, with very short repetition times (TR 260, TE 20). Mixed sequences (UTSS) followed, both T1-weighted, lasting 12' and 13' respectively, and then T2-weighted Multiecho sequences lasting 9'. T1-weighted Inversion Recovery sequences provided with good contrast between normal and neoplastic parenchyma, and demonstrated all the lesions shown by other techniques. UTSS proved to be the most sensitive sequence in exactly defining the lesion and its relationship to hepatic vessels. Signal characteristics of T2-weighted Multiecho sequences allowed some neoplastic types to be distinguished that were found to have a particular behavior, especially hemangiomas. T1 and T2 maps were used to characterize the different lesions.