Spin lock magnetic resonance imaging in the differentiation of hepatic haemangiomas and metastases

• Published in: British journal of radiology Vol. 68; no. 815; p. 1198
• Main Authors: Halavaara, J T, Lamminen, A E, Bondestam, S, Sepponen, R E, Tanttu, J I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.11.1995
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Breast Neoplasms; Colonic Neoplasms; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Hemangioma - diagnosis; Humans; Liver Neoplasms - diagnosis; Liver Neoplasms - secondary; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies
• ISSN: 0007-1285; 1748-880X
• DOI: 10.1259/0007-1285-68-815-1198

Spin lock (SL) imaging technique, generating T1 rho-weighted images, was applied to the differentiation of hepatic haemangiomas from metastatic focal liver lesions. 17 haemangiomas and 16 metastases in 32 patients were imaged at the field-strength of 0.1 T using a multiple slice SL technique and a conventional gradient-echo (GRE) sequence with identical timing parametres. Spin lock effects of the hepatic lesions and different abdominal tissues were calculated. Images with adequate coverage of the liver and of good quality with few motion induced artefacts were acquired. A definite, statistically significant, difference was found between the SL-effects of hepatic haemangiomas and a liver metastases. Haemangiomas showed an SL effect of 46.6 +/- 3.4% and metastases of 56.2 +/- 5.8% (mean +/- SD, p < 0.0001). The multiple slice SL technique showed potential in distinguishing haemangiomas from metastatic liver lesions and should be considered as an alternative to the conventional T2 and magnetization transfer (MT) based methods.