Objective To investigate the clinical application of MR hydrography (MRH) in diagnosing alveolar echinococcosis (AE). Methods Thirty-four patients with suspected alveolar echinococcosis were examined using MRH in addition to conventional magnetic resonance imaging(cMRI).Thirty-two of the 34 patinets had surgery and the pathological diagnoses were alveolar echinococcosis.Results Among 128 lesions in these 32 patients found at surgery,cMRI examination found 68 lesions and MRH found 108 lesions.The sensitivity of cMRI examination was (53.13 ±0.04) %,the specificity was (92.59 ± 0.05) %,concordance rate was (60.00 ± 0.03) %.The sensitivity of MRH examination was (84.38 ± 0.03) %,the specificity was (81.48 ± 0.08) %,concordance rate was (83.87 ± 0.03) %.Comparing concordance rate of cMRI examination and MRH,significant difference was found (U = 5.44,P < 0.01).Conclusion MRH technique can raise the sensitivity and concordance rote for diagnosing AE. This technique should be employed in the evaluation of patients suspected of AE.