Comparison of mangafodipir trisodium- and ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI for detection and characterization of hepatic metastases in colorectal cancer patients

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the validity of mangafodipir trisodium-enhanced versus ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI in the detection and characterization of hepatic lesions in colorectal cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Forty-one patients who were known to have or suspected of having hepatic metastasis from colorectal carcinoma underwent mangafodipir trisodium- or ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI in block randomization methods. Two radiologists independently reviewed the MR images to determine the number of hepatic lesions and to characterize the lesions as malignant or benign. Each lesion was assessed according to its size (small, <= 2 cm; large, > 2 cm in diameter) on both mangafodipir trisodium- or ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI. The data were Correlated with the reference diagnosis: histopathology and intraoperative sonography (n = 16): intraoperative sonography (n = 4); and imaging and clinical diagnosis with follow-up (> 3 months; n = 21). The detection rates and diagnostic accuracies of hepatic lesions on both sets of MR images were assessed using Fisher's exact test. RESULTS. Eighty-two hepatic lesions (53 metastatic and 29 benign) were identified in 41 patients. No significant differences were seen between mangafodipir trisodium- and ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI for detecting all hepatic lesions (p = 0.183), small hepatic lesions (p = 0.299), all metastases (p = 0.695), and small metastases (p = 0.689). The diagnostic accuracies of mangafodipir trisodium- and ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI showed no significant differences in ail hepatic lesions (p = 0.624) and small hepatic lesions (p = 0.641). CONCLUSION. Mangafodipir trisodium- and ferucarbotran-enhanced MRI are similar in hepatic lesion detection and characterization in colorectal cancer patients.