Quantification of hepatic steatosis is a significant unmet need for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). MRI is capable of separating water and fat signals in order to quantify fatty infiltration of the liver (hepatic steatosis). Unfortunately, fat signal has confounding T 1 effects and the nonzero mean noise in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) magnitude images can lead to incorrect estimation of the true lipid percentage. In this study, the effects of bias from T 1 effects and image noise were investigated. An oil/water phantom with volume fat-fractions ranging linearly from 0% to 100% was designed and validated using a spoiled gradient echo (SPGR) sequence in combination with a chemical-shift based fat-water separation method known as iterative decomposition of water and fat with echo asymmetry and least squares estimation (IDEAL). We demonstrated two approaches to reduce the effects of T 1 : small flip angle (flip angle) and dual flip angle methods. Both methods were shown to effectively minimize deviation of the measured fat-fraction from its true value. We also demonstrated two methods to reduce noise bias: magnitude discrimination and phase-constrained reconstruction. Both methods were shown to reduce this noise bias effectively from 15% to less than 1%. Magn Reson Med 58:354 -364, 2007.

BACKGROUND We report relationships of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors with myocardial structure, function and scar in patients with type 1 diabetes in the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial/Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (DCCT/EDIC) study. METHODS and RESULTS Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was obtained in 1017 patients with type 1 diabetes. Gadolinium CMR was also obtained in 741 patients. The mean age was 49 ± 7 years, 52% were men, and mean diabetes duration was 28± 5 years. Associations of CVD risk factors with CMR parameters were examined using linear and logistic regression models. History of macroalbuminuria was positively associated with LV mass (by +14.8 g) leading to a significantly higher LV mass/EDV ratio (by 8%). Mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels over the preceding 22 years were inversely associated with end-diastolic volume (−3.0 ml per unit mean HbA1c %) and stroke volume (−2.3 ml per unit mean HbA1c %) and positively related to elevated LV mass/EDV ratio (0.02 g/ml per unit). The overall prevalence of myocardial scar was 4.3% by CMR and 1.4% by clinical adjudication of myocardial infarction. Both mean HbA1c (Odds ratio (O.R.) 1.5 [1.0–2.2] per unit) and macroalbuminuria (OR 3.5 [1.2–9.9]) were significantly associated with myocardial scar as well as traditional CVD risk factors. CONCLUSIONS In addition to traditional CVD risk factors, elevated mean HbA1c and macroalbuminuria were significantly associated with alterations in LV structure and function. The prevalence of myocardial scar was 4.3% in this subcohort of DCCT/EDIC participants with relatively preserved renal function.