American Journal of Roentgenology, Vol 164, 1147-1152, Copyright © 1995 by American Roentgen Ray Society

ARTICLES

Blood-pool MR contrast material for detection and characterization of focal hepatic lesions: initial clinical experience with ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (AMI-227)

S Saini, RR Edelman, P Sharma, W Li, W Mayo-Smith, GJ Slater, PJ Eisenberg and PF Hahn
Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

OBJECTIVE. AMI-227 is an ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide colloid known to enhance tissue T1 and T2 relaxation rates. Animal studies show that AMI-227 has an estimated blood half-life of more than 200 min. In this study, we evaluated the clinical utility of AMI-227 as an MR contrast agent for detection and characterization of focal hepatic lesions, with MR imaging done while the contrast agent is in the intravascular space (blood-pool phase). SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Twenty-two patients with known or suspected focal hepatic masses underwent T1- and T2-weighted MR imaging of the liver at 1.5 T before and immediately after drip infusion of AMI-227 at doses of 0.8, 1.1, or 1.7 mg Fe/kg. Unenhanced and contrast-enhanced images were analyzed qualitatively (lesion detection and tissue characterization) and quantitatively (lesion-liver contrast-to-noise ratio). RESULTS. AMI-227 enhanced signal in normal liver and blood vessels on T1-weighted images and decreased signal in these tissues on T2-weighted images. Qualitatively and quantitatively, lesion-liver contrast was increased for solid tumors (non-cyst and nonhemangioma) at all three doses (p < .02) on both T1- and T2-weighted images. Differentiation between blood vessels and small lesions was easier on contrast-enhanced images, which allowed increased confidence in excluding lesions. Unique enhancement patterns were noted for hemangiomas, solid tumors, and cysts. CONCLUSION. Initial clinical experience suggests that AMI-227 is a useful contrast agent for detection and characterization of focal hepatic lesions.
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