Feasibility of Quadruple Arterial Phase of Motion Insensitive Radial Volumetric Imaging Breath-Hold Examination with k-Space Weighted Image Contrast in the Detection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE@#To evaluate the detection performance of hepatocellular carcinoma and image quality in patients with chronic liver disease with quadruple arterial MR imaging using radial volumetric imaging breath-hold examination (VIBE) with k-space weighted image contrast (KWIC).@*MATERIALS AND METHODS@#Forty-four patients underwent liver MR examinations with quadruple arterial imaging using radial VIBE-KWIC sequence (full-frame and four sub-frame images). Diagnostic performance was evaluated with receiver operating characteristics (ROC) for detection of hepatocellular carcinoma. The image quality and severity of artifact were scored by using the five-point scale.@*RESULTS@#The area under the ROC curve (Az) value of Hepatocelluar Carcinoma (HCC) detectability was the highest on third sub-frame images, followed by full-frame images. The Az values of third sub-frame and full-frame about the detection of HCC were statistically significantly different from the Az value of first sub-frame images. The full-frame and four sub-frame images showed acceptable image quality and low degree artifact with rating of higher than grade 3.@*CONCLUSION@#Quadruple arterial MRI using radial VIBE-KWIC is a feasible method for detecting hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic liver disease without deterioration of image quality. The third sub-frame and full-frame image are superior to other sub-frame images in detecting hepatocellular carcinoma.