CORRELATION OF PERFUSION ABNORMALITIES ON CTAP AND IMMEDIATE POSTINTRAVENOUS GADOLINIUM-ENHANCED GRADIENT-ECHO MRI

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate patients with we dge-shaped perfusion defects seen on spiral CT arterial portography fo r the presence of transient increased wedge-shaped enhancement on dyna mic gadolinium-enhanced gradient echo MR images. Methods: Nineteen pat ients underwent CTAP and MRI within a 2-week interval. All patients wi th wedge-shaped perfusion defects on CT arterial portography were eval uated in a separate review session for the presence of transient incre ased segmental hepatic enhancement on dynamic gadolinium-enhanced spoi led gradient echo (SGE) MR images. Results: Eight patients were identi fied to have subsegmental, segmental, or lobar wedge-shaped perfusion defects by CT arterial portography. In 8/8 patients, there was transie nt wedge-shaped increased hepatic enhancement on MR images which corre sponded to the perfusion defects identified on CT arterial portography . Transient increased enhancement on MR images was observed on immedia te postgadolinium images as high-signal intensity of the involved subs egment, segment, or lobe. This relatively high-signal area faded to ne ar isointensity in all cases on images obtained at 45 s. Conclusion: W edge-shaped perfusion defects demonstrated by CT arterial portography corresponded to wedge-shaped increased hepatic enhancement following g adolinium administration on SGE MR images.