"Pseudo washout" sign in high-flow hepatic hemangioma on gadoxetic acid contrast-enhanced MRI mimicking hypervascular tumor.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to describe the "pseudo washout" sign of high-flow hepatic hemangioma that mimics hypervascular tumor on gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI. CONCLUSION: High-flow hemangiomas might show relatively low signal intensity because of gadoxetic acid contrast uptake in the surrounding normal liver parenchyma during the equilibrium (3-minute delay) phase. Such findings are called pseudo washout and can mimic hypervascular hepatic tumors. However, high-flow hemangioma can be diagnosed by observing bright signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging, arterial phase-dominant enhancement, pseudo washout sign during the equilibrium phase, and isointense or slightly increased signal intensity on subtraction images.