ENHANCEMENT OF THE NORMAL PANCREAS - COMPARISON OF MANGANESE-DPDP ANDGADOLINIUM CHELATE

The purpose of this paper was to compare manganese-DPDP (Mn-DPDP) and gadolinium chelate (Gd-DTPA) contrast agents for enhancement of the no rmal pancreas. A total of 14 patients with focal liver disease underwe nt Mn-DPDP- and Gd-DTPA-enhanced 1.5 T MR examinations using spoiled g radient-echo (FLASH) technique at two separate times. Contrast agents were injected according to the currently recommended practices, Gd-DTP A was injected as a rapid bolus: injection in a dosage of 0.1 mmol/kg, and Mn-DPDP was injected as a slow IV injection in a dosage of 5 mu m ol/kg. Quantitative region of interest measurements were made in 11 pa tients, and percent contrast enhancement of the pancreas and pancreas- fat signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) were determined for each agent. Image s were also evaluated qualitatively by consensus reading of two invest igators and overall scan quality was rated on a scale from 1 (poor) to 4 (very good). Enhancement of the pancreas immediately post Gd-DTPA w as significantly higher than 15 min post Mn-DPDP (73.3 vs 36.3%; p = 0 .003). On postcontrast images the pancreas-fat SNR measurements were 7 .7 (i.e. pancreas higher in signal than fat) and -6.1 for Gd-DTPA and Mn-DPDP, respectively which was significantly different (p < 0.001). I mage quality was sated as 3.1 and 2.5 for Gd-DTPA- and Mn-DPDP-enhance d images, respectively. The normal pancreas enhances significantly mor e with Gd-DTPA than with Mn-DPDP administered under the conditions of this study. Overall image quality is also greater on the Gd-DTPA-enhan ced images.