Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the Cirrhotic Liver: Gadolinium-enhanced 3D T1-weighted MR Imaging as a Stand-alone Sequence for Diagnosis

Purpose: To retrospectively assess the usefulness of contrast material–enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging alone and with T2-weighted MR imaging in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods: A waiver of informed consent and institutional review board approval for this retrospective study were granted. The study was HIPAA compliant. Twenty-eight men (mean age, 49 years; range, 23–70 years) and 10 women (mean age, 53 years; range, 42–72 years) with cirrhosis underwent T2-weighted and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted MR imaging at 1.5 T within 90 days of liver transplantation. Three readers reviewed the T1-weighted images alone and then the T2-weighted and T1-weighted images together. Lesion detection, characterization, and reader confidence levels were recorded. Results: At liver explantation, 57 lesions were present in 18 patients: 19 HCCs, 33 dysplastic nodules, and five cysts. Contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging depicted 13 of 19 HCCs with an overall sensitivi...