Differentiation between hemangiomas and cysts of the liver with single-shot fast-spin echo image using short and long TE.

PURPOSE This study was designed to examine whether hepatic hemangioma can be differentiated from cyst by use of single-shot fast spin echo (SSFSE) sequence without contrast material. METHODS SSFSE images with a short TE (90 msec) and a long TE (600-700 msec) were obtained in 30 patients with cyst (n= 19) or hemangioma (n= 26) on a 1.5-T unit. In short TE, both cysts and hemangiomas showed well-defined hyperintense masses. RESULTS In long TE, however, cysts showed well-defined hyperintense masses, whereas hemangiomas were poorly defined faint masses with intermediate signal intensity. The contrast-to-noise ratio of hemangiomas and cysts were 3.23 and 52.9 (p < 0.001) in long TE; there was no overlap for the ranges, and the result did not depend on lesion size. All 45 lesions were differentiated correctly with these qualitative criteria. CONCLUSIONS SSFSE with short and long TE is useful in the evaluation of cyst and hemangioma of the liver.