Abstract #1818

Matsunaga N, Shimizu A, Tanabe M, Ito K, Hayashida M

The purpose of this study was to evaluate signal-intensity patterns of small hypovascular hepatocellular lesions at SPIO-enhanced MR imaging. This study included 67 hypovascular hepatocellular lesions in 47 patients. Most hypovascular hepatocellular lesions seen at multiphasic contrast-enhanced dynamic CT in cirrhosis showed iso- (34/67: 51%) or low-signal intensity (21/67: 31%) at SPIO-enhanced MR imaging, indicating that these lesions tended to possess an almost identical or higher number of Kupffer cells in nodules than surrounding liver tissues. This fact may suggest close association between intranodular blood supply and SPIO uptake (numbers and functions of Kupffer cells) of hepatocellular lesions.