Is MRI imaging on same machine for NETs + Liver metastases important?

Posted by splendrous @splendrous, May 20 12:51pm

I have been told by several drs and read that it is important to have your images taken on the same machine for the quarterly, semi annual, etc MRI follow up.

I have had to make several calls to get my MRI follow up scan scheduled. Today I was able to talk to a lead tech who told me they had three Siemen MRI's at the location, a Aera 1.5, a Sola 1.5 and a Skyra 3.0. Though you can not specify a machine when you make the appt. The 3.0 is considered a better image for the liver.

As I continued to research I came across a study indicating that some tumors readings could not be true changes.
Conclusion
An increase < 9% in measurement and a decrease of −10% on DWI should not be considered as true changes, with 95% confidence, versus 24% and −22% on arterial and 17%, −16% on portal phases, respectively. DWI might thus be the most reliable MR sequence for monitoring size variations of LMNETs. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211568417303200

For viewing neuroendocrine metastatic liver tumors using a Siemens MRI, the best approach is a multiparametric MRI including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and hepatocyte-specific contrast-enhanced dynamic MRI. Specifically, DWI is crucial for detecting and characterizing these metastases.

I am going to discuss with my doctor, but was interested if anyone has investigated this before. I was surprised at reading the conclusion above that some changes were to be disregarded as not true changes.

Thanks for sharing.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Neuroendocrine Tumors (NETs) Support Group.

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