[Magnetic resonance in hepatic lesions. Experience with a 1.5-T magnetic field]

Forty-one patients with histologically proven hepatic lesions (6 cysts, 6 hemangiomas, 8 hepatomas, 19 metastases and 2 negative cases) were studied with Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging at 1.5 T, and with US and CT. This prospective study was aimed at evaluating: the comparative accuracy of MR, US and CT; the sensitivity and specificity of spin-echo (SE) vs FISP pulse sequences; the efficacy of T1 and T2 relaxation time values in differentiating hemangiomas from hepatomas and metastases. MR diagnostic accuracy was 94.7% vs 89.4% of CT and 84.2% of US. FISP sequences provided 60% sensitivity and 66% specificity. T2 relaxation time values were statistically significant (p less than 0.05) in differentiating hemangiomas (T2 range: 80.9-218.9 ms) from hepatomas (T2 range: 59.4-83.2 ms). The differences in mean T2 values between hemangiomas and metastases (T2 range 54.3-177.3 ms) were not statistically significant (p greater than 0.25).