REGULAR CONTENT
Final ID
450
Type
Original Scientific Research-Poster Only
Authors
A Isaacson1, C Commander1, L Burke1
Institutions
1University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Purpose
Recently, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) embolic beads (LC Bead, BTG, Conshocken, PA) have been made radiopaque (LC Bead LUMI, BTG) by the addition of an iodine moiety. These beads are routinely used to embolize liver tumors after which magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is often obtained to evaluate for residual tumor. Because of the addition of iodine, there is a question of whether the beads will result in MR artifact, potentially obscuring subtle gadolinium enhancement of residual malignancy in the treated tumor bed. The purpose of this study was to address this question using a gadolinium enhanced liver phantom.
Materials & Methods
A gadolinium enhanced liver phantom was created by mixing 2 g of agarose, 100 ml of water and 0.025 ml of gadoterate meglumine in a plastic container and allowing it to set. Solutions of 70-150 um and 100-300 um radiopaque beads with 5% dextrose were created. Using an 18-gauge needle, linear tracks of each radiopaque bead solution were injected into the phantom. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and T1-weighted MR images of the phantom were obtained. CBCT images were used to confirm that the radiopaque linear tracks of beads were present in the phantom. Regions of interest were drawn within the background agar and injected regions of radiopaque beads on MR images and mean signal intensity and standard deviation (SD) measurements were obtained. T-tests were used to evaluate significance of differences.
Results
The radiopaque beads were clearly visible on the CBCT images but not visible on the MR images. Mean signal intensities with SD on MR images of the region injected with 70-150 um beads was 503.7 +/- 26.0 while the adjacent background measured 499.2 +/- 25.7 (p=0.89). Similarly, for the 100-300 um beads the injected area measured 474.9 +/- 19.2 with the adjacent background measured 473.9 +/- 17.6 (p=0.97).
Conclusions
Linear tracks of radiopaque PVA embolic beads do not create MR artifact, compromising the ability to detect adjacent gadolinium enhancement in a liver phantom.
Final ID
450
Type
Original Scientific Research-Poster Only
Authors
A Isaacson1, C Commander1, L Burke1
Institutions
1University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Purpose
Recently, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) embolic beads (LC Bead, BTG, Conshocken, PA) have been made radiopaque (LC Bead LUMI, BTG) by the addition of an iodine moiety. These beads are routinely used to embolize liver tumors after which magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is often obtained to evaluate for residual tumor. Because of the addition of iodine, there is a question of whether the beads will result in MR artifact, potentially obscuring subtle gadolinium enhancement of residual malignancy in the treated tumor bed. The purpose of this study was to address this question using a gadolinium enhanced liver phantom.
Materials & Methods
A gadolinium enhanced liver phantom was created by mixing 2 g of agarose, 100 ml of water and 0.025 ml of gadoterate meglumine in a plastic container and allowing it to set. Solutions of 70-150 um and 100-300 um radiopaque beads with 5% dextrose were created. Using an 18-gauge needle, linear tracks of each radiopaque bead solution were injected into the phantom. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) and T1-weighted MR images of the phantom were obtained. CBCT images were used to confirm that the radiopaque linear tracks of beads were present in the phantom. Regions of interest were drawn within the background agar and injected regions of radiopaque beads on MR images and mean signal intensity and standard deviation (SD) measurements were obtained. T-tests were used to evaluate significance of differences.
Results
The radiopaque beads were clearly visible on the CBCT images but not visible on the MR images. Mean signal intensities with SD on MR images of the region injected with 70-150 um beads was 503.7 +/- 26.0 while the adjacent background measured 499.2 +/- 25.7 (p=0.89). Similarly, for the 100-300 um beads the injected area measured 474.9 +/- 19.2 with the adjacent background measured 473.9 +/- 17.6 (p=0.97).
Conclusions
Linear tracks of radiopaque PVA embolic beads do not create MR artifact, compromising the ability to detect adjacent gadolinium enhancement in a liver phantom.