Lesion detection and assessment of extrahepatic findings in abdominal MRI using hepatocyte specific contrast agents--comparison of Gd-EOB-DTPA and Gd-BOPTA.

Background: To evaluate the contrast agent performance of Gd-EOB-DTPA and Gd-BOPTA for detection and assessment of extrahepatic findings, semi-quantitatively and qualitatively.

Methods: 13 patients with 19 extrahepatic lesions underwent liver MRI with Gd-EOB-DTPA and Gd-BOPTA. Quantitative and relative SNR measurements were performed in each dataset in the arterial and portalvenous phase within the extrahepatic lesion, aorta, inferior vena cava, portal vein, spleen, pancreas and renal cortex. Further, relative CNR measurements were performed. Three readers assessed contrast quality using a five-point scale and choosing the preferred image dataset. Statistical analysis consisted of a Student's t-test with p < 0.05 deemed significant, a weighted kappa statistic for assessment of interobserver variability and an ROC analysis.

Results: Mean SNR after injection of Gd-BOPTA was significantly higher compared with Gd-EOB-DTPA for all measurements (p < 0.05). Mean relative SNR was also higher for Gd-BOPTA, but without being statistically significant. There was no significant difference in relative CNR. Interobserver agreement for selection of image preference was moderate (mean weighted kappa 0.485). The area under the curve for the ROC-analysis regarding contrast agent performance was 0.464.

Conclusion: Even though mean SNR is significantly higher after injection of Gd-BOPTA compared with Gd-EOB-DTPA, there is no significant difference in relative CNR with extrahepatic lesions being assessed equally well. Visual impression may differ after injection of Gd-EOB-DTPA, but does not influence image interpretation. Extrahepatic findings can be assessed similarly to MRI after injection of Gd-BOPTA.