Tracer-Kinetic Analysis of Gd-EOB-DTPA in the Liver with a Dual-Inlet Two-Compartment Uptake Model

Steven Sourbron¹, Wieland Sommer, Christoph Zech, Maximilian Reiser, Karin Herrmann

A dual-inlet one-compartment uptake model is developed for DCE-MRI with Gd-EOB-DTPA in the liver. The model generalizes the one-compartment model for the liver, providing one new parameter: the intracellular uptake rate (KI). Data in normal appearing liver tissue of 25 patients shows that the uptake model fitted all ROI curves accurately, and provided values in the expected range for all known parameters. The average value for KI was 1.7/100/min, with a relatively narrow range of normality. The method may present a new and practical paradigm in functional liver MRI, producing quantitative measures of both perfusion and hepatobiliary function.