USE OF MAGNETIZATION-TRANSFER CONTRAST TO IMPROVE SINGLE BREATH-HOLD 3-DIMENSIONAL MR-PORTOGRAPHY WITH BOLUS INJECTION OF GADOPENTETATE DIMEGLUMINE - A PRELIMINARY-REPORT

We investigated whether better visualization of the intrahepatic porta l system could be obtained by adding magnetization transfer contrast ( MTC) to three-dimensional MR portography (3D-MRP), in 15 healthy volun teers, 3D fast low-angle shot images combined with an off-resonance pu lse were obtained after bolus injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine d uring one period of breath-holding, Within 1 week after injection, MR images without MTC were obtained using the same scanning condition, MR Ps with and without the MTC pulse were compared quantitatively and qua litatively, The contrast-to-noise ratio of the portal vein-liver was s ignificantly higher in the group imaged with the addition of MTC. Qual itatively, the use of MTC improved peripheral portal branch depiction on maximum-intensity projection images. Even when the MTC pulse was ad ded to the conventional method of 3D data collection, it was possible to obtain images within one period of breath-holding, In conclusion, t he use of MTC can substantially enhance the quality of 3D-MRPs.