Hepatobiliary/GI Clinical Protocols: Follow Up Liver














New York University School of Medicine Department of Radiology
Suggestions/Comments

Hepatobiliary/GI Clinical Protocols

Follow Up Liver

Last updated: 4/29/2002

Phased array coil centered over the liver.

Weight based Gadolinium contrast (*), 15cc if pt is less than 180 pounds; otherwise 20cc Gd

Assess the patient’s breath holding capability. If poor capability, give oxygen. If the patient can’t hold his/her breath call body radiologist.

Run sequences in the order listed.

Sequence	Plane	Comment	Film #
STIR	Ax	Run concatenated. If bad ghosting, run Ax HASTE with fat sat (8mm 0.2 gap)	1
T1in/out	Ax		2,1
VIBE	Ax	Try to get effective thickness 2mm. Use FOV as small as possible. If >375 needed call MD.	0
Timing Run	Ax	Thru kidneys – 1cc at 2cc/sec followed by 20 cc saline at 2cc/sec	0
VIBE	Ax	3 measures (0, 60, 180 sec) Start scanning at time to peak.	2,2,1
Do Subtraction		Arterial phase – pre-contrast	0

Helpful hint: If patient has limited breath holding capacity, increase slice thickness on vibe (up to 7-8 mm if necessary) before switching to non-breath hold liver.

(*) The use of gadolinium contrast material for these applications represents off-label usage in the U.S. Outside the U.S., please consult your country's regulations for local guidelines.

NOTE: These protocols apply to Siemens Symphony (with Quantum gradients) and Sonata systems. While they reflect the protocols used at NYU Medical Center, NYU is not responsible for their application elsewhere.