Dynamic MR imaging of the abdomen with gadopentetate dimeglumine: normal enhancement patterns of the liver, spleen, stomach, and pancreas.

To show the normal contrast enhancement patterns of the upper abdominal organs, dynamic gadopentetate dimeglumine-enhanced MR imaging of the upper abdomen was performed in 48 patients. Although all patients were originally examined for focal hepatic lesions, none of them had diffuse parenchymal disease of any of the examined organs. Dynamic gadopentetate dimeglumine-enhanced MR imaging was done by using a heavily T1-weighted gradient-echo sequence (100/5 [TR/TE], 80 degrees flip angle) performed before, and repeatedly for a period of 10 min after, an IV bolus injection of gadopentetate dimeglumine (0.1 mmol/kg). Signal enhancement in each of the organs was calculated by measuring the signal intensity before and after administration of contrast medium. All organs showed signal enhancement within the first 2 min (p less than .001) and a continuous decline thereafter. The enhancement of the pancreas, liver, stomach wall, spleen, and renal cortex reached peaks of 75%, 78%, 96%, 144%, and 216%, respectively, 45 sec after administration of contrast medium. Liver and pancreas showed a homogeneous enhancement pattern throughout the examination. The spleen appeared heterogeneous during the first 60 sec and homogeneous thereafter. Two zones could be distinguished on the contrast-enhanced images of the stomach wall: an enhanced inner zone and an unenhanced outer zone. We conclude that homogeneous enhancement of the liver and pancreas, early heterogeneous enhancement of the spleen, and enhancement of the inner gastric wall are normal patterns on dynamic gadopentetate dimeglumine-enhanced MR images.