Affiliation:
1. Department of Radiology, Army Medical Center of PLA, Chong Qing, China
Abstract
Background:
In abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the late hepatic arterial
phase is particularly important for the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, poor
patient compliance with breath-hold imaging acquisition protocols and the administration of the liverspecific
contrast agent gadolinium ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)
increases the motion artifacts that degrade the quality of the images making it more difficult to interpret
the images.
Objective:
This study aimed to evaluate the role of adaptive respiratory training in improving the quality
of the MRI by reducing the motion artifacts and improving the signal intensity from the regions of
interest (ROI) in the late hepatic arterial phase.
Methods:
A total of 120 patients who underwent an abdominal MRI between 2021 to 2022 to assess
for the liver disease were included in the study. These patients were divided into two groups: the experimental
group and the control group. The patients in the experimental group received adaptive training.
The incidence of motion artifacts and the signal intensity in the late hepatic arterial phase within
the abdominal aorta, hepatic artery, splenic artery, and hepatic parenchyma between the experimental
group and the control group were compared.
Results:
The incidence of motion artifacts in the experimental group was significantly reduced by
28.3% (p = 0.001, Chi-square value = 12.079). In the late hepatic arterial phase, the signal intensity of
the abdominal aorta, the hepatic artery, the splenic artery, and the hepatic parenchyma increased by
7.3%, 27.4%, 29.5%, and 6.9%, respectively.
Conclusion:
Adaptive respiratory training reduced the incidence of motion artifacts and improved the
signal intensity for various ROI. The improved image quality could potentially facilitate image interpretation
and reduce the number of repeat MRI scans.
Publisher
Bentham Science Publishers Ltd.
Subject
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and imaging