INFECTIOUS LIVER FOCI IN LEUKEMIA - COMPARISON OF SHORT-INVERSION-TIME INVERSION-RECOVERY, T1-WEIGHTED SPIN-ECHO, AND DYNAMIC GADOLINIUM-ENHANCED MR-IMAGING

PURPOSE: To assess the performances of three different magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques in the evaluation of patients with leukemia and suspected hepatic candidiasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twelve patients with acute leukemia and definite or clinically suspected hepatic candidiasis were imaged at 1.0 T with a T1-weighted spin-echo (SE) technique, a short-inversion-time inversion-recovery (STIR) fat-suppression technique, and a dynamic gadolinium-enhanced fast low-angle shot (FLASH) technique. The conspicuity of hepatic lesions was evaluated semiquantitatively and ranked on a three-point scale. RESULTS: Multiple liver lesions were seen as high-signal-intensity foci with the STIR sequence; other sequences showed equivocal results. In the semiquantitative evaluation, STIR was significantly (P < .001) superior to both T1-weighted SE and contrast-enhanced FLASH techniques. Multiple red blood cell transfusions affected lesion conspicuity. CONCLUSION: STIR imaging is recommended as the MR technique of choice at 1.0 T in the evaluation of infectious liver foci in patients with acute leukemia.