Assessment of magnetic resonance contrast enhancement with Gd-DTPA: comparison with the uptake of Tc-99m-DTPA.

To compare the contrast enhancement of Gd-DTPA with the uptake of 99mTc-DTPA, a study was carried out in two steps. In the first step, images comparable in terms of data acquisition time and thickness were obtained after computer processing, and processed images of 99mTc-DTPA and Gd-DTPA enhanced MRI were compared from the morphological aspect. In the second step, the arterial blood concentration of Gd-DTPA and the effect of T2 shortening on signal intensity were studied. It was concluded that Gd-DTPA enhanced MRI can provide functional information analogous to that obtained from radionuclide studies, possibly enabling semiquantitative analysis of contrast enhancement to be performed.