The appearance of the cirrhotic liver on computed tomography can be difficu
lt to evaluate and can frustrate the radiologist distinguishing benign from
malignant lesions. Hepatic edema, fibrosis, atrophy, and vascular abnormal
ities are common in the cirrhotic liver and produce derangements in morphol
ogy, attenuation, and perfusion, limiting the accurate characterization of
hepatic masses. With the development of fast magnetic resonance (MR) sequen
ces and dynamic postgadolinium-enhanced imaging, most hepatic lesions with
uncertain etiology on computed tomography can be accurately characterized o
n MR imaging. We describe MR imaging techniques useful for imaging cirrhosi
s and its complications. We also illustrate the spectrum of findings in the
cirrhotic liver on dynamic gadolinium-enhanced MR imaging, including retic
ular and confluent fibrosis, fatty infiltration, hemochromatosis, regenerat
ing nodules, dysplastic nodules, hepatocellular carcinoma, and sequela of p
ortal hypertension.