Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the visualization capability of orally administered manganese chloride tetrahydrate (ACE-MBCA [Ascelia Pharma-manganese-based contrast agent, also referred to as Orviglance or CMC-001]), a novel liver-specific contrast agent developed by Ascelia Pharma, as a liver-specific MRI contrast agent compared with that of the unenhanced MRI for focal liver lesions in a properly blinded study design. The secondary objective was to compare the performance of ACE-MBCA with gadobenate dimeglumine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three independent readers analyzed MRI examinations from a previously completed randomized crossover clinical trial in a blinded manner in a centralized setting. The study included 20 consecutive adult patients with known or suspected liver metastases, who received both ACE-MBCA and gadobenate dimeglumine. The readers evaluated 6 types of MRI scans (unenhanced, enhanced, and combined MRI for both contrast agents) with lesion visualization [lesion border delineation (LBD) and lesion contrast (LC)] as primary outcome. To maintain the blinded nature of the study, all statistical analyses were performed by an independent statistician who was not involved in the image reading process. Differences in primary outcomes were performed using 1-sided paired t tests at a significance level of 0.025 for both parameters. For secondary outcomes (ACE-MBCA enhanced MRI visualization, lesion detection, size measurements, reader confidence, quantitative parameters, and image quality were compared with that of the other scans), descriptive statistics and 95% confidence intervals were used to evaluate differences between categories in comparative analyses, without formal hypothesis testing for most secondary endpoints. RESULTS: ACE-MBCA-enhanced MRI demonstrated statistically significant superior scoring over unenhanced MRI for visualizing focal liver lesions, with mean LBD scores improving from 1.8-2.3 to 2.4-2.9 and LC scores ranging from 1.8-2.3 to 2.8-3.3 across all 3 readers ( P < 0.001). Compared with unenhanced MRI, ACE-MBCA detected significantly more lesions across all readers (mean differences 0.4-0.8 lesions, 95% CI: 0.04-1.52), particularly for small lesions (<1 cm), where detection improved from 2-6 to 3-12 lesions. Liver-to-lesion contrast and contrast-to-noise ratios were also significantly higher after ACE-MBCA enhancement. All visualization parameters of ACE-MBCA were comparable to those of gadobenate dimeglumine, with no significant differences. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with unenhanced MRI, ACE-MBCA MRI resulted in superior visualization and a greater number of detected liver lesions. ACE-MBCA and gadobenate dimeglumine performed similarly in the visualization and detection of colorectal liver metastases.