(18) F-Fdg Pet/Mr Imaging In Patients With Suspected Liver Lesions: Value Of Liver-Specific Contrast Agent Gadobenate Dimeglumine

ObjectivesTo evaluate the added value of the application of the liver-specific contrast phase of Gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA) for detection and characterization of liver lesions in (18)FFDG PET/MRI.Methods41 patients with histologically confirmed solid tumors and known / suspected liver metastases or not classifiable lesions in F-18-FDG PET/CT were included in this study. All patients underwent a subsequent Gd-BOPTA enhanced F-18-FDG PET/MRI examination. MRI without liver-specific contrast phase (MRI1), MRI with liver-specific contrast phase (MRI2), F-18-FDG PET/MRI without liver-specific contrast phase (PET/MRI1) and with liver-specific contrast phase (PET/MRI2) were separately evaluated for suspect lesions regarding lesion dignity, characterization, conspicuity and confidence.ResultsPET/MRI datasets enabled correct identification of 18/18 patients with malignant lesions; MRI datasets correctly identified 17/18 patients. On a lesion-based analysis PET/MRI2 provided highest accuracy for differentiation of lesions into malignant and benign lesions of 98% and 100%. Respective values were 95% and 100% for PET/MRI1, 93% and 96% for MRI2 and 91% and 93% for MRI1. Statistically significant higher diagnostic confidence was found for PET/MRI2 and MRI2 datasets compared to PET/MRI1 and MRI1, respectively (p < 0.001).ConclusionThe application of the liver-specific contrast phase in F-18-FDG PET/MRI further increases the diagnostic accuracy and diagnostic confidence for correct assessment of benign and malignant liver lesions.