MANGANESE DPDP AS A CONTRAST-MEDIUM FOR MRI OF FOCAL LIVER-LESIONS - PATIENT ACCEPTABILITY AND IMAGE QUALITY IN 20 PATIENTS

Twenty patients with focal liver lesions (18 metastases, 1 hepatocellular carcinoma, 1 cholangiocarcinoma) were given manganese DPDP as part of a multicentric phase II study of paramagnetic hepatobiliary MR contrast media. 5 mumol/kg manganese DPDP were injected into 10 patients in a concentration of 50 mumol or 10 mumol/ml (3ml/min). Blood pressure, pulse rate, ECG, respiratory rate, body temperature, blood and serum parameters and the patients' subjective feelings were recorded. MRI was performed with 1.5 T using T1- and T2-weighted sequences. 6 patients reported 8 side effects (flushing, feeling of warmth, metallic taste); 7 of these were produced by the 50 mumol concentration. Two hours after injection there was a significant reduction in alkaline phosphatase which was no longer present after 24 hours. On T1-weighted images manganese DPDP resulted in marked improvement in the contrast difference between the lesions and the liver parenchyma which resulted in a marked increase in the signal to noise ratio. Comparing the two concentrations, better results were obtained by the lower concentration. Extrahepatic uptake was found in the gallbladder, duodenum, pancreas, kidneys, gastric mucosa and myocardium. Manganese DPDP in a concentration of 10 mumol/ml and a dose of 5 mumol/kg is a well tolerated contrast medium which improves the demonstration of focal liver lesions in view of its distribution and uptake. The mechanisms for the transitory side effects require further studies.