T2-Weighted MR Imaging of the Liver: Evaluation of the Effect in Signal Intensity After Gd-EOB-DTPA Enhancement

Tsutomu Tamada¹, Katsuyoshi Ito¹, Hiroki Higashi¹, Teruki Sone¹, Akira Yamamoto¹, Naoto Egashira¹, Tomohiro Sato¹, Fuyuki Tanaka¹, Atsushi Higaki¹

We evaluated the effect of Gd-EOB-DTPA on T2-weighted MR imaging of the liver parenchyma. Gd-EOB-DTPA had visually little impact on enhanced T2-weighted MR images obtained at 4 minutes after administration although hepatic vessels were slightly enhanced. T2-weighted MR imaging, thereby, could be performed only after contrast, thus decreasing overall imaging time. Conversely, the substantial decrease of signal intensity of liver parenchyma can be observed on T2-weighted MR images in 35 minutes. Therefore, we recommend that enhanced T2-weighted MR images should be obtained at the early period after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration between contrast-enhanced dynamic series and hepatobiliary phase imaging.