Intraindividual Comparison of Half-Dose Gadopiclenol and Standard-Dose Gadobenate Dimeglumine for Contrast-Enhanced Abdominal MRI

Background: Gadopiclenol is a high-relaxivity contrast agent enabling dose reduction while maintaining image quality. However, comparison with conventional agents remains limited in body MRI. Purpose: To intra-individually compare half-dose gadopiclenol and standard-dose gadobenate for image quality and lesion conspicuity in abdominal MRI. Study Type: Retrospective. Population: One hundred patients (55 men; mean age: 64 ± 14 years) who underwent both abdominal MRI with gadobenate (0.1 mmol/kg) and gadopiclenol (0.05 mmol/kg) on the same scanner within 12 months. Field Strength/Sequence: 1.5T/3T, dynamic T1-weighted imaging pre-contrast, early arterial (EAP), late arterial (LAP), portal venous (PVP), and equilibrium phases (EP) using 3D fat-suppressed gradient echo sequence. Assessment: Signal intensity of liver, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, aorta, portal vein, and abdominal lesions was measured on each phase except EAP. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and magnitude of contrast enhancement (ΔE) were calculated for organs. In lesions, lesion-to-background ratio (LBR) and ΔE were calculated. Subjective image quality and lesion conspicuity were assessed by three readers using a 5-point Likert scale. Statistical Tests: Paired t-test and Wilcoxon test. p < 0.05 indicated statistically significant results. Results: Gadopiclenol yielded significantly higher CNR and SNR for pancreas, portal vein, and kidney in LAP. No significant differences in CNR (p: 0.372–0.858) and SNR (p: 0.433–0.936) were found in PVP. In EP, gadobenate showed higher hepatic CNR, while CNR and SNR of all other organs were comparable (p: 0.103–0.912). Gadopiclenol showed higher pancreatic ΔE in all enhanced phases. LBR and ΔE of 21 evaluated lesions were comparable across all phases (p: 0.100–0.821). No significant differences were observed in readers' perception of lesion enhancement (p: 0.059–0.957). Conclusion: Half-dose gadopiclenol provides comparable subjective image quality and lesion conspicuity to standard-dose gadobenate, with superior pancreatic, kidney, and portal vein enhancement in LAP, and similar performance in PVP and EP. Level of Evidence: 4.