Masahiro Okada MD, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Norihisa Yada, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Minori Onoda RT, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Seishi Kumano MD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Masatoshi Kudo, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Takamichi Murakami MD, PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

To investigate the ability of changing rate of T1 value after Gd-EOB-DTPA injection and US elastography (FibroScan) for evaluation of degree of liver fibrosis in patients with fatty liver and chronic liver disease.

Fourteen patients with fatty liver, chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis, who were diagnosed by liver biopsy were included in this study. A clinically available 3-T system (Achieva) with a 6-channel phased-array surface coil was used. The Philips Research Integrated Development Environment (PRIDE) T1 fitting tool was employed for measurement of T1 relaxation time using data from the Look-Locker echo-planar imaging sequence (T1 mapping). Look-Locker echo-planar imaging sequences (repetition time, 12 ms; echo time, 1.7 ms; flip angle, 7º; field of view, 420 × 285 mm; matrix, 112 × 66, 256zip; thickness, 10 mm; acquisition time, 1 phase = 145 ms, 31 phases; acceleration factor, 2) were obtained before and at 3, 8, 13 and 18 min after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration. 3 regions of interest (ROIs) with a range of 50-60 pixels were placed manually in the liver on T1 mapping images obtained before and at 3, 8, 13 and 18 min after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration. Reduction rate (%) of T1 value of the liver parecnyma was defined as [(T1pre – T1post) / T1pre] × 100. FibroScan was performed 10 times for each patient by an experienced investigator, and Liver Stiffness Measurement (LSM; kPa) was recorded. Correlative evaluation with reduction rate of T1 value and LSM of FibroScan was performed.  

Two of 14 patients were eliminated from this study, because these 2 patients could not be measured by FibroScan. The reduction rate of T1 Mapping　and LSM were 56.4±5.2 % and11.4±14.8 kPa, respectively. A significant inverse correlation was found between the reduction rate of T1 Mapping and LSM of FibroScan (r = -0.61, p<0.05).

The estimation of reduction rate of T1 value by using T1 mapping with Gd-EOB-DTPA is a promising noninvasive tool for assessing the liver fibrosis, and it was inversely correlated to LSM of FibroScan.

Although liver biopsy is the gold standard, T1 mapping by non-invasive means is available to reach a diagnosis of cirrhosis, and can be used as an alternative to US Fibroscan.

Okada, M, Yada, N, Onoda, M, Kumano, S, Kudo, M, Murakami, T, Evaluation of Degree of Hepatic Fibrosis: Comparison T1 Mapping Technique of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI with US Elastography.  Radiological Society of North America 2011 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 26 - December 2, 2011 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2011/11002917.html