Efficacy of dynamic enhancement effects on Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI for estimation of liver function assessed by 13C- Methacetin breath test

PURPOSE: Contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is able to assess liver function by characteristic changes of signal intensity (SI). The aim was to evaluate dynamic contrast-enhanced SI-indices of the abdominal aorta, portal vein and liver. METHODS: 72 patients underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI and a C-13-methacetin-based liver breath test (C-13-MBT) for evaluation of liver function. Region-of-interest measurements in the liver, abdominal aorta and portal vein during native, arterial (AP), late arterial (LAP), portal venous (PVP) and hepatobiliary phase (HBP) were applied to analyze SI-indices in T1-weighted volume-interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) sequences with fat-suppression and relative enhancement (RE) analysis was performed. RESULTS: The liver (p < 0.001), the portal vein (p < 0.001) and abdominal aorta (p= 0.002) showed significant decrease of REs with decreasing liver function. An increasing trend between logarithmic values of C-13-MBT and REs of hepatic parenchyma (HBP; r= 0.662, p < 0.001), portal vein (PVP; r= 0.532, p < 0.001) and abdominal aorta (PVP; r= 0.421, p