Quantitative pharmacokinetic analysis of high-temporal-resolution dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI to differentiate the normal-appearing pituitary gland from pituitary macroadenoma

Purpose To evaluate the usefulness of high-temporal-resolution dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI and quantitative pharmacokinetic analysis to differentiate the normal-appearing pituitary gland from a pituitary macroadenoma. Materials and methods Twenty-seven patients with macroadenomas underwent preoperative DCE-MRI with a temporal resolution of 5 s using compressed sensing to obtain pharmacokinetic parameters. Two independent observers localized the normal-appearing pituitary gland on post-contrast T1-weighted images before and after referring to the corresponding K trans maps. Agreements between the localizations and intraoperative findings were evaluated using the kappa statistics. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare the pharmacokinetic parameters of the normal-appearing pituitary gland and adenoma. Results For both observers, the agreement between the MRI-based localization and the intraoperative findings increased after referring to the K trans maps (observer 1, 0.930–1; observer 2, 0.636–0.855). The normal-appearing pituitary gland had significantly higher K trans [/min] (1.50 ± 0.80 vs 0.58 ± 0.49, P < 0.0001), k ep [/min] (3.19 ± 1.29 vs 2.15 ± 1.18, P = 0.0049), and v e (0.43 ± 0.15 vs 0.25 ± 0.17, P = 0.0003) than adenoma. Conclusion High-temporal-resolution DCE-MRI and quantitative pharmacokinetic analysis help accurately localize the normal-appearing pituitary gland in patients with macroadenomas. The normal-appearing pituitary gland was characterized by higher K trans , k ep , and v e than macroadenoma. Condensed abstract Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI with high-temporal-resolution using compressed sensing was used for quantitative pharmacokinetic analysis of pituitary macroadenomas. An observer study, the use of K trans maps improved accuracy in localizing the normal-appearing pituitary gland. As compared to an adenoma, the normal-appearing pituitary gland had significantly higher K trans , k ep , and v e values.