Dynamic and delayed CT versus short TE/TR spin-echo fast-field-echo MR for the detection of focal hepatic lesions

To evaluate the ability of CT and short TE/TR, fast field echo MR imaging to detect focal hepatic lesions, a prospective study was performed in 14 patients using two CT techniques, dynamic and double-dose delayed imaging, and three MR imaging techniques: spin-echo sequences with TR/TE = 310/21 msec and the recently introduced fast field echo technique with both 100-200 (T2-weighted) and 800 (T1-weighted) flip angles. The five imaging techniques were ranked from best to worst in terms of number of lesions detected, lesion-liver contrast, and quality of study. CT ranked consistently higher than MR imaging in all three respects, with delayed imaging superior to dynamic CT. Of the three MR imaging techniques, the fast field echo sequence with the 100-200 flip angle or T2-weighted sequence had the highest ranking