Free-breathing dynamic liver examination using a radial 3D T1-weighted gradient echo sequence with moderate undersampling for patients with limited breath-holding capacity

Abstract Purpose To compare free-breathing radial VIBE with moderate undersampling (us-radial-VIBE) with a standard breathhold T1-weighted volumetric interpolated sequence (3D GRE VIBE) in patients unable to suspend respiration during dynamic liver examination. Material and methods 23 consecutive patients underwent dynamic liver MR examination using the free-breathing us-radial-VIBE sequence as part of their oncologic follow-up. All patients were eligible for the free-breathing protocol due to severe respiratory artifacts at the planning or precontrast sequences. The us-radial-VIBE acquisitions were compared to the patientś last staging liver MRI including a standard breathhold 3D GRE VIBE. For an objective image evaluation, signal intensity (SI), image noise (IN), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-enhancement ratio (CER) were compared. Representative image quality parameters, including typical artifacts were independently, retrospectively and blindly scored by four readers. Results Us-radial-VIBE had significant lower SNR (p  Conclusion Free-breathing dynamic liver imaging using us-radial-VIBE delivers accurate temporal resolution, low motion artifact susceptibility and good image quality and represents a promising alternative in patients unable to suspend respiration.