The role of SPIO-enhanced MRI in the detection of malignant liver lesions

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIO)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the detection of malignant liver tumors. MRI, using fast spin-echo T2-weighted and gradient-echo T1-weighted imagings before and after SPIO infusion, was performed in 32 patients with known or suspected hepatic lesions. Statistical analysis was performed using lesion-by-lesion analysis. SPIO-enhanced T2-weighted MRI showed results comparable to those of unenhanced T2-weighted MRI in the detection of focal liver lesions.