Focal liver lesions: characterization with nonenhanced and dynamic contrast material-enhanced MR imaging.

Objective: To evaluate prospectively the diagnostic accuracy of non-enhanced and gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in characterization of hepatic lesions.

Methods: Fifty-five patients with benign and 52 patients with malignant focal liver lesions underwent examination at 1.5 T that comprised nonenhanced and dynamic contrast material-enhanced images. Four experienced radiologists independently read the different sets of images without and with knowledge of clinical history.

Results: Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging added information to nonenhanced MR studies and thereby improved distinction between benign and malignant lesions (P < .05). Knowledge of clinical data further improved lesion characterization with nonenhanced and combined nonenhanced and contrast-enhanced MR imaging (P < .05).

Conclusions: Dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging is a useful adjunct for characterization of hepatic lesions. Knowledge of clinical history still has a decisive effect on interpretation of MR images of the liver.