Upper Abdomen MRI

MRI of the upper abdomen covering liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and adrenal glands. Superior soft-tissue contrast without radiation.

The upper abdomen MRI provides comprehensive evaluation of the solid abdominal organs using sequences optimized for hepatic, pancreatic, and renal imaging. The examination covers the liver (parenchymal signal, focal lesions, vascular anatomy), gallbladder and proximal bile ducts, pancreas (head, body, tail, and ductal calibre), spleen, both kidneys (cortical assessment, cysts, masses), and adrenal glands. The protocol includes axial T1 and T2-weighted sequences with breath-hold techniques, plus STIR for oedema detection. In- and opposed-phase gradient echo sequences help characterize fatty liver disease and adrenal adenomas. The radiologist documents organ sizes, parenchymal signal abnormalities, focal lesions with characterization, vascular patency, and lymph node status in the upper abdominal stations. Common indications include liver lesion characterization (particularly when ultrasound has identified an indeterminate focal lesion), pancreatic cyst surveillance, adrenal incidentaloma workup, and screening for patients who cannot receive iodinated CT contrast. The radiation-free nature makes this suitable for serial surveillance imaging.