Comparison of End-Expiration Versus End-Inspiration Breath-Holds With Respect to Respiratory Motion Artifacts on T1-Weighted Abdominal MRI.

The purpose of this study was to compare respiratory motion artifact and diagnostic image quality between end-inspiration and end-expiration breath-holding techniques on unenhanced and contrast-enhanced axial T1-weighted MRI of the liver. This retrospective observational study included 50 consecutive subjects undergoing axial T1-weighted liver MRI, with unenhanced images acquired with both end-inspiration and end-expiration breath-holding techniques, and with contrast-enhanced images acquired for 47 of the subjects with either the end-inspiration or the end-expiration breath-holding technique. Three radiologists performed blinded independent evaluations of each unenhanced sequence, contrast-enhanced sequence, and subtraction (contrast-enhanced minus unenhanced) image, using a scale ranging from 1 point (denoting nondiagnostic imaging) to 5 points (denoting no artifacts).