ObjectiveTo systematically review the overall diagnostic efficacy of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI in differentiating dysplastic nodules (DNs) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), exploring whether the hepatobiliary phase can effectively improve diagnostic accuracy. MethodsThe PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang Data, and CBM databases were searched from January 1998 to March 2023 to identify original studies on Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI for the differential diagnosis of DNs and HCC. Two investigators independently performed literature screening, extraction of data features and quality assessment. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata 17.0 and Meta-disc1.4 software. ResultsA total of 14 papers were included in this meta-analysis, including 375 DNs and 653 HCC. The results of meta-analysis showed that, in the multiparametric diagnostic sequence, the pooled Sen, Spe, PLR, NLR and AUC were 0.95 (95%CI 0.87 to 0.98), 0.95 (95%CI 0.91 to 0.97), 18.57 (95%CI 9.64 to 35.78), 0.06 (95%CI 0.02 to 0.14) and 0.98 (95%CI 0.97 to 0.99), respectively. ConclusionGd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI has a good differential diagnostic value for DNs and HCC. Hepatobiliary phase imaging also greatly compensates for the diagnostic deficiency of dynamic enhancement with low sensitivity for early HCC.