Impaired hepatic Gd-EOB-DTPA enhancement after radioembolisation of liver malignancies

To evaluate the uptake of the liver-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) by functional liver parenchyma after radioembolisation (RE) of hepatic malignancies. Uptake of Gd-EOB-DTPA prior to RE versus 60+/−24d and 126+/−32d after RE was compared in a group of 33 patients with primary or secondary hepatic malignancies. In patients who underwent single-lobe treatment, left and right lobes were compared 59+/−24 days after RE. Gd-EOB-DTPA uptake was determined as follows: ratio of mean signal intensity in liver parenchyma to muscle in Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1-weighted MRI was subtracted from ratio of mean intensity in liver parenchyma to muscle in unenhanced T1-weighted MRI. Gd-EOB-DTPA uptake in liver parenchyma was 0.845+/−0.29 before RE, 0.615+/−0.38 (P=0.0022) at day 60+/−24, and 0.739+/−0.30 at day 126+/−32 after RE. In cases of single-lobe treatment, Gd-EOB-DTPA uptake was 0.581+/−0.256 for treated and 0.828+/−0.32 (P=0.0164) for untreated hepatic lobes.