QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF CHANGES IN NATIVE MRI SIGNAL INTENSITY IN PATIENTS WITH FOCAL LIVER LESIONS

Study objective: Investigating the potential of the quantitative analysis of native MRI in patients having focal liver lesions. Material and methods: MRI at 1,5 T was used to examine 256 patients (414 focal liver lesions). The quantitative values of the intensity of signals from liver lesions, intact liver parenchyma, major blood vessels, and other abdominal organs were treated statistically. Coefficients based on the ratios of measured parameters in different organs, different liver segments, and at a defined liver site upon different impulse patterns were calculated. Results: The most informative in variance analysis was the ratio of signal intensity from a lesion and the corresponding parameter of intact liver parenchyma in a T2-weighted image. The highest values of such ratio were found for ascitic formations, whereas the lowest, for steatotic cirrhotic foci. Also informative were chemical shift sequence and VIBE. Conclusion: Quantitative analysis of MRI data provides for detailed assessment of changes in focal liver lesions, thus minimizing the subjective interferences. Native studies are effective in differential diagnostics of simple and parasitic cysts, steatosis, and hemangiomas.

liver, MRI, hepatocellular cancer, hemangioma, cyst, metastasis, cholangiocellular cancer, signal intensity, quantitative analysis