Assessment of hepatic function is essential in determining the prognosis and clinical management of a patient who has chronic liver disease or undergoes liver surgery. For a patient with locally varying hepatic parenchymal abnormalities, a regional assessment of hepatic function mapped onto hepatic anatomy is clinically more meaningful than conventional global metrics of hepatic function. Of late, hepatic magnetic resonance imaging has been increasingly used because of its superb tissue contrast and delineation of hepatic morphology and underlying abnormalities. The introduction of hepatocyte-specific contrast agents such as Gd-EOB-DTPA allows us to view not only the hepatic anatomy but also assess regional hepatic function. In this article, we review and discuss recently published studies that used Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate hepatic function.

No abstract

Primary breast carcinoma with neuroendocrine features is an extremely rare and underrecognized subtype of the breast carcinoma. And up to present, its biologic behavior, the most effective treatment, and prognosis are not well recognized. To diagnose this rare entity, special tumor stains of neuroendocrine markers are required, which are not routinely used. The imaging features of primary breast carcinoma with neuroendocrine features (BCNF) have not been accurately described due to the extreme rarity of this tumor type. We report the imaging features in a case of BCNF, with imaging findings different from the typical imaging findings of invasive breast carcinoma.