Inflammatory hepatic adenomas: Characterization with hepatobiliary MRI contrast agents

To characterize the MRI appearance of inflammatory hepatic adenomas using hepatobiliary contrast agents.

MRI was performed using hepatobiliary contrast agents (3 with gadobenate dimeglumine and 24 with gadoxetic acid) in 27 patients with immunohistochemistry-confirmed diagnosis of inflammatory hepatic adenoma. The appearance of the lesions on T2 and diffusion-weighted images, pre-gadolinium T1-weighted images, dynamic post-gadolinium images, and hepatobiliary phase images was assessed.

Seven lesions (26%) showed predominant hyperenhancement on hepatobiliary phase images in comparison with adjacent hepatic parenchyma: 1 lesion showed diffuse, mildly heterogeneous hyperenhancement, and the remaining 6 lesions showed peripheral hyperenhancement and central hypoenhancement. Twenty lesions (74%) were predominantly hypoenhancing compared to adjacent liver on hepatobiliary phase images. Nine lesions showed a pattern of peripheral hyperenhancement and central hypoenhancement on hepatobiliary phase images; in 6 of these lesions a majority of the mass appeared hyperenhancing, while the remaining 3 lesions showed predominant hypoenhancement.

This investigation shows that a significant percentage of inflammatory hepatic adenomas appear isointense or hyperintense in comparison to adjacent normal liver on hepatobiliary phase images, and therefore this feature should not be used to distinguish hepatic adenomas from focal nodular hyperplasia without additional supporting evidence.