MR imaging of hepatic injury in the LEC rat under a high magnetic field (7.05 T)

Visualization of copper-induced hepatitis (CuH) in LEC rats was performed by using an MRI apparatus equipped with a magnet producing a high magnetic field of 7.05 T. When three groups of LEC rats (6-16 [pre-hepatitis], 15-26 [acute hepatitis] and 40-77 [chronic hepatitis] weeks old) were examined by MRI under T-2-weighted imaging conditions which are suitable for the diagnosis of human hepatitis, hypointense MR images of the livers were, as a whole, obtained in all groups, suggesting that these conditions were not adequate for imaging of CuH of LEC rats. The shortening of the T-1 and T-2 relaxation times of livers due to an excess amount of paramagnetic irons under the high magnetic field was responsible for the lowering of MR signal intensities of the livers, especially those of 15 to 26-week old rats showing acute hepatitis. However, theoretical calculation of the MR signal intensities using the T1 and T2 relaxation times of the livers indicated that their imaging might be possible under proton density-weighted conditions even with a high magnetic field. Experimental results showed that hepatic injury was visualized as hyperintense regions in the MR image of the liver in the acute-phase rat.