Focal hepatic masses: comparison of detection during arterial portography with MR imaging and CT.

Purpose: A prospective study was performed to compare the sensitivity and specificity of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and computed tomography (CT) both performed during arterial portography in depicting focal hepatic masses.

Materials And Methods: Eleven patients with 31 pathologically proved focal hepatic masses were prospectively evaluated. MR arterial portography was performed with 4 mL of a 0.5 mmol/kg solution of gadolinium tetraazacyclododecanetetraacetic acid (DOTA) injected through a catheter into the superior mesenteric artery during multisection gradient-echo imaging.

Results: MR arterial portography depicted 29 of the 31 masses (sensitivity, 94%). CT arterial portography depicted 27 of the 31 masses (sensitivity, 87%). Two masses not depicted with either CT or MR had a diameter of 3 and 7 mm, respectively. Neither MR nor CT demonstrated a false-positive finding (specificity, 100%). The difference in sensitivity and specificity between the two techniques was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: MR arterial portography does not enable detection of significantly more focal hepatic masses than does CT arterial portography.