Intraindividual Comparison between Gadoxetate-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Dynamic Computed Tomography for...

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Medical Imaging
• Hepatology

Background:

• Accurate characterization of hepatic lesions is crucial for patient management.
• The Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) provides a standardized approach for reporting liver findings.
• Comparing diagnostic performance of different imaging modalities is essential for optimizing clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the diagnostic accuracy of dynamic computed tomography (CT) and gadoxetate-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• To evaluate lesion characterization using the Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS).
• To assess performance in a multicenter, off-site evaluation setting.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective multicenter study of 231 hepatic lesions in 217 patients with chronic liver disease.
• Patients underwent both gadoxetate-enhanced MRI and dynamic CT.
• Four radiologists independently reviewed images and categorized lesions using LI-RADS v2014.

Main Results:

• MRI showed higher sensitivity and accuracy than CT for diagnosing hepatic malignancies (LR-5/5V/M: 75.3% vs. 65.3%, p < 0.001).
• Both modalities had comparable accuracies in differentiating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from other malignancies (LR-M: 82.4% vs. 79.9%, p = 0.139).
• MRI demonstrated superior accuracy for categorizing LR-5/5V/M in hepatic malignancies.

Conclusions:

• Gadoxetate-enhanced MRI is more accurate than dynamic CT for categorizing hepatic malignancies using LI-RADS.
• Both CT and MRI have similar capabilities in distinguishing HCC from other malignant liver lesions.
• These findings support the use of gadoxetate-enhanced MRI for improved characterization of liver lesions.