Visualizing Central Vessels of Hepatic Angiomyolipoma Devoid of Fat Using a 2D Multi-Breath-Hold Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging

Abstract

Epithelioid hepatic angiomyolipoma (Epi-HAML) is a rare benign mesenchymal tumor with malignant potential. Most of Epi-HAML contains no or only a minimal amount of adipose tissue and poses a diagnostic challenge. Central vessels are characteristic imaging finding of Epi-HAML, which usually were displayed by dynamic contrast imaging. In this paper, we displayed the central vessels of Epi-HAML invisible on conventional MR images using a new developed abdominal susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description for the role of SWI in characterization of Epi-HAML.