Dynamic contrast-enhanced MDCT of the liver. Analysis of the effect of different iodine concentrations with the same total iodine dose in the same chronic liver disease patients

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of aortic and hepatic enhancement in patients with chronic liver disease who underwent dynamic multi detector row CT (MDCT) using a higher concentration of contrast material within the same total iodine dose (80 mL of 370 mgI/mL), compared with a standard iodine concentration (100 mL of 300 mgI/mL). Dynamic MDCT of the liver was performed in 35 patients using different prefilled syringes (300 mgI/mL=group A, 370 mgI/mL=group B) during follow-up periods. The bolus-tracking program was used to automatically start the arterial phase scan. The attenuation values for the abdominal aorta, the hepatic parenchyma, and portal veins were measured. Attenuation values of the aorta and hepatic artery in group B were significantly higher than those in group A (p<0.001). Attenuation values of the splenic vein (SV) in group A were higher than those in group B (p=0.045). The relative hepatic enhancement (RHE) values during the portal phase in group B were significantly higher than those in group A (p=0.014). Administration of a higher iodine concentration in the contrast materials is advantageous for the detection of both hyper- and hypo-vascular hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs). (author)