[Hepatocellular carcinoma--a comparative study of MR imaging and angiography]

We used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 0.2 T and angiography to evaluate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 43 patients who had not received therapy. Tumor detection rate by MRI was 84%, T2-weighted spin echo imaging being the best detection method, though one case could only be detected by T1-weighted imaging (Inversion Recovery method). The signal intensity of the tumor relative to the surrounding liver parenchyma was studied using MRI, and tumor staining using angiography. Where there was a high signal intensity in the T2-weighted spin echo images there was a corresponding tendency for tumor staining to be marked. MRI demonstrated the inner structure--which resembles random high-intensity threads on a lower-intensity background--of hypervascular tumors. Tumors with capsules appeared with the capsule clearly delineated irrespective of the signal intensity of the tumor itself.