Effect of Hepatocyte-Specific Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents on Hepatic Fat-Fraction and R2*

Shane A. Wells¹, Diego Hernando¹, Karl K. Vigen¹, Scott B. Reeder¹, ²

Chemical-shift based water-fat separation methods with R2*-correction can accurately quantify fat-fraction and R2*, as surrogate biomarkers of hepatic steatosis and iron overload. New hepatobiliary contrast agents dramatically alter the T1 and R2* of liver and may impact quantification of fat and iron. In this work, we investigate the impact of a hepatocyte-specific contrast agent (gadoxetic acid) on fat-fraction and R2*. We demonstrate that fat-fraction is unaffected by gadoxetic acid, so long as low flip angles are used. However, gadoxetic acid increases the apparent R2* demonstrating that quantification of iron overload should always be performed prior to contrast administration.