Three-Tesla magnetic resonance elastography for hepatic fibrosis: Comparison with diffusion-weighted imaging and gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

摘要

AIM: To evaluate the feasibility of 3-Tesla magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for hepatic fibrosis and to compare that with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. METHODS: Forty-two patients were included in the study. On MRE, mean stiffness values were measured on the elastograms in kilopascals. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the liver was measured using DWI. On gadoxetic acid enhanced MR, the contrast enhancement index (CEI) was calculated as signal intensity (SI)_post/SI_pre, where SI_post is liver-to-muscle SI ratio on hepatobiliary phase images and SI_pre is that on nonenhanced images. Correlation between aspartate aminotransferase to the platelet ratio index (APRI) and three MR parameters was assessed. Each MR parameter was compared between a hepatic fibrosis (HF) group and non-hepatic fibrosis (nHF) group. RESULTS: Liver stiffness showed strong positive correlation with APRI [Spearman correlation coeffiecient (r) = 0.773, P r = -0.28 and -0.321, respectively). In the HF group, only liver stiffness showed strong correlation with APRI (r = 0.731, P CONCLUSION: MRE at 3-Tesla could be a feasible method for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis.