DELINEATION OF LIVER NECROSIS USING DOUBLE CONTRAST-ENHANCED MRI

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the potential usefulness of the combination of gadolinium and dysprosium to enhance the differe nce between normal and necrotic liver tissue, Small regions of acute n ecrosis were induced by injecting 200-300 mu l of 95% alcohol into the liver of 26 rats. MRI was performed 24 hours after necrosis induction , before and immediately after injection of one or both contrast agent s, using a mixed T1/T2-weighted sequence, the signal intensity (SI) of the normal liver was reduced by 70%, whereas the necrotic regions had more than a 50% increase in SI after double contrast, The region that was enhanced corresponded largely with the region of necrosis as obse rved postmortem, The lesion size, when identified, was largely underes timated using either of the agents alone, albeit using the common puls e sequences. The double contrast effect of simultaneous administration of gadolinium and dysprosium allows accurate delineation of liver nec rosis.