MR imaging of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Forty-two patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were examined by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. The presence of tumor was suggested in 41 of 42 cases by a high-intensity area on T2 weighted spin-echo (SE) images with a repetition time (TR) of 1.6 s. Specific findings of HCC such as the presence of a capsule, mosaic pattern, and tumor thrombus in major veins were noted in 10, two, and seven cases, respectively. In six cases the tumor pattern changed from a well-defined mass to an irregular, ill-defined one according to pulse sequence (SE: echo time 35 and 70 ms; TR 1.6 and 0.4 s). In our early experience MR was almost equal to conventional X-ray CT in the detection of main or daughter lesions and in the determination of extent and characterization of HCC.