Table 2.

Liver appearance in specific phases after contrast injection

Phase	Time after contrast injection	Appearance of liver parenchyma and vessels
Early arterial phase	15-25 s	Portal vein is not enhanced.
Late arterial phase	30-40 s	Portal vein is enhanced, hepatic veins are not yet enhanced.
Portal venous phase (PVP)	70-80 s	Portal veins and liver parenchyma are fully enhanced and hepatic veins already get antegrade flow.
Delayed phase – obtained with extracellular contrast agents or gadobenate dimeglumine (Gd-BOPTA)	2-5 min	Portal and hepatic veins as well as (usually) liver parenchyma enhancing less than in PVP.
Transitional phase – obtained with gadoxetate disodium (Gd-EOB-DTPA)	2-5 min	Similar enhancement of liver vessels and parenchyma (overlap of extracellular and intracellular effect of Gd-EOB-DTPA).
Hepatobiliary phase	20 min after Gd-EOB-DTPA; 1-3 hours after Gd-BOPTA	Contrast is visible in biliary tree and liver vessels are hypointense compared to liver parenchyma.