Radiology, Vol 186, 133-138, Copyright © 1993 by Radiological Society of North America

ARTICLES

Hypervascular liver lesions: differentiation of focal nodular hyperplasia from malignant tumors with dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging

AE Mahfouz, B Hamm, M Taupitz and KJ Wolf
Department of Radiology, Klinikum Steglitz, Freie Universitat Berlin, Germany.

The differentiating points between focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) and malignant hypervascular liver lesions were studied at dynamic gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Thirty-six patients with 50 hypervascular lesions (28 FNH, 12 hepatocellular carcinoma, nine metastases, and one cholangiocarcinoma) underwent unenhanced spin-echo (SE) T1- and T2-weighted imaging and T1-weighted gradient-recalled-echo imaging before and repeatedly for 10 minutes after intravenous bolus injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine. On unenhanced SE images, the signal intensity of 25 FNH lesions (89%) and 10 malignant tumors (45%) was homogeneous. A central scar was detected in 12 FNH lesions (43%) and in none of the malignant tumors. On dynamic gadolinium-enhanced images, all lesions had early vigorous enhancement that was homogeneous in 27 FNH lesions (96%) and in seven malignant tumors (32%) (P < .001). After administration of gadopentetate dimeglumine, central scars were seen in 22 FNH lesions (79%) and in one malignant tumor (4%) (P < .001). All FNH lesions (100%) and six malignant tumors (27%) had well-defined enhancement (P < .001). There was overlap in the enhancement pattern between hypervascular malignant lesions and FNH, but by using the combination of unenhanced and enhanced images, they could be distinguished.

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