MR TOMOGRAPHY OF FOCAL LIVER-LESIONS USIN G THE SUPERPARAMAGNETIC CONTRAST AGENT AMI-25 AT 1.5 TESLA

Superparamagnetic iron oxide particles (AMI-25) were evaluated as a li ver contrast agent in high-field MR imaging (1.5 T). 16 patients with up to 5 presumed focal liver lesions (liver metastases n = 8, HCC n = 5, Klatskin tumours n = 2, FNH n = 1) received 15 mu mol Fe/kg BW intr avenously and were examined via standard T-1- and T-2-weighted spin-ec ho sequences. Quantitative image analysis showed a post-contrast incre ase of the contrast-to-noise ratio (C/N) from 1.6 to 7.4 on SE 2,500/1 5 images (p < .05). However, C/N was in the same range on plain SE 2,5 00/90 scans. Blind evaluation by two independent readers revealed that AMI-25-enhanced images did not provide a significantly increased numb er of lesions. Two patients reported minor, self-limited side-effects (flush, back pain). We conclude that in contrast to reports at mid-fie ld MR imagers, the use of AMI-25 at 1.5 T does not significantly impro ve the detection of focal liver lesions on conventional SE images.