Double hepatic arterial phase MRI of the liver with switching of reversed centric and centric k-space reordering

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the clinical feasibility and usefulness of a 2D spoiled gradient-recalled echo MR sequence with serial switching of reversed centric and centric k-space reordering for high-spatial-resolution gadolinium-enhanced double hepatic arterial phase (HAP) MRI of the liver. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. MR images (frequency, 512; phase encoding without interpolation, 224; 6-mm thickness with 1-mm gap; 30 slices per 18 seconds) were obtained with multiphase imaging in which central k-space line data were filled 10, 21, 49, and 181 seconds after arrival of contrast medium in the abdominal aorta for the early HAP (reversed centric reordering, center of k-space lines acquired at end of acquisition), late HAP (centric reordering, center of k-space lines at beginning of acquisition), portal venous phase (centric reordering), and equilibrium phase (centric reordering), respectively, in 102 consecutive patients with suspected liver disease, including 48 untreated hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) in 35 patients. Images were quantitatively assessed for degree of contrast enhancement in the abdominal aorta, spleen, portal trunk, liver parenchyma, hepatic veins, and HCCs. Images were qualitatively assessed for the effectiveness of contrast enhancement in each phase and for degree of image degradation due to artifacts. RESULTS. Enhancement of the abdominal aorta peaked in the early HAP, of the portal trunk in the late HAP, and of the hepatic parenchyma and veins in the portal venous phase. Mean HCC-to-liver contrast peaked in the early HAP and turned to a negative value in the portal venous and equilibrium phases. Sufficient image quality was achieved in 99 (97%) of the patients. One of the other three patients had motion artifacts due to body motion, and the other two had unsatisfactory respiratory suspension. Scan timing for early and late HAP was optimal in 74 (73%) of the patients, for late HAP lagged in 20 (20%), for early HAP was premature in six (6%), and for early HAP lagged in five (5%) of the patients. CONCLUSION. We confirmed the feasibility and usefulness of a 2D gadolinium-enhanced double HAP spoiled gradient-recalled echo sequence incorporating serial switching of reversed centric and centric k-space reordering. This method has the potential for use in high-spatial-resolution double HAP MRI for the diagnosis of hypervascular HCC.