Simultaneous detection of hepatocellular carcinoma and vessel thrombus by using SPIO-enhanced B-TFE with the T₂...

The purpose of this study was to compare between superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced three-dimensional balanced turbo field-echo (B-TFE) sequence with T₂ preparation pulse (T₂ prep) and T₂*-weighted imaging (T₂*WI) for the simultaneous detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and vessel thrombus. For 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging, SPIO was administered to 23 patients with a portal or venous tumor thrombus, and B-TFE with T₂ prep and T₂*WI were acquired. Regions of interest in the B-TFE and T₂*WI were selected for the tumor, liver, tumor thrombus, and vessels. The contrasts of the HCC in the liver and the tumor thrombus in the vessels were determined from clinical image. Contrast was calculated using the mean value of the signal intensity on the HCC to the liver and tumor thrombus to vessels. The mean contrasts between HCC and the liver with the use of B-TFE and T₂*WI were 0.61 ± 0.05 and 0.70 ± 0.04, respectively. The contrast of HCC to the liver was significantly higher in T₂*WI than in B-TFE (p < 0.05). The mean contrasts between the tumor thrombus and vessels with the use of B-TFE and T₂*WI were 0.28 ± 0.02 and 0.10 ± 0.02, respectively. The contrast of tumor thrombus in the vessels was higher in B-TFE than in T₂*WI (p < 0.01). Kupffer imaging can be used to assess liver function and acquire morphological images using three-dimensional B-TFE with T₂ prep. This technique would be helpful for simultaneous detection of HCC and tumor thrombus.