Abstract

STANDING WAVE ARTIFACTS - MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF A GIANT HEPATIC HEMANGIOMA: A CASE REPORT

Mohamadou Aminou*, Mbozo’o Mvondo Samuel, Yannick Onana, Laurent
BoutcheYaouba, Neossi Nguena Mathurin and Mbo Amvene Jeremie

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Abstract

Background: Artifacts are by-products of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that may lead to misdiagnosis and confusion or if not distinguished correctly. However, some specific patterns of artifacts can aid in diagnosis. Case presentation: We present a case of a giant hepatic hemangioma (GHH) with standing wave artifacts appearing sausage-like or quasi-circular signal loss inside the lesion on T2- weighted, diffusion-weighted images or apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps at 3.0T. Imaging the patient at 1.5T mitigates the artifacts arising at 3.0T. We consider standing wave artifacts could be observed in GHHs due to the large amount of blood fluid and the increased size of the abdomen. Conclusion: This case illustrates standing wave artifacts might be helpful for the MRI diagnosis or differential diagnosis of GHHs and demonstrates the imaging findings associated with it.

Keywords: standing wave artifacts, giant hepatic hemangioma, magnetic resonance imaging.