Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for the assessment of fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C

Abstract

Liver biopsy is the gold standard for assessing fibrosis but has several limitations. We evaluated a noninvasive method, so-called diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWMRI), which measures the apparent diffusion coefficient (

Can preoperative diffusion-weighted MRI predict postoperative hepatic insufficiency after curative resection of HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma? A pilot study

“…DW-MRI using R2-ADC values also failed to predict postoperative hepatic insufficiency (P=1.000) and the performance of DW-MRI in the prediction of advanced liver fibrosis (F3-4) and cirrhosis (F4) was disappointing (AUROC=0.648, P=.313 and AUROC=0.491, P=.938, respectively), despite our use of a 3-T MRI system which could have potentially provided better sensitivity to diffusion effects [14]. Furthermore, The R2-ADC values for each fibrosis stage did not show a tendency to increase or decrease.…”

“…Recently, Lewin et al reported that the performance of DW-MRI was comparable to that of other noninvasive tests for assessing liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) (AUROC=0.79 for F2-4 and 0.92 for F3-4) and concluded that DW-MRI could be used as an adjunctive imaging modality to assess liver fibrosis in patients for whom liver MRI is performed [14]. In their study, the performance of LSM was similar or slightly superior to that of DW-MRI (AUROC=0.87 for F2-4 and 0.92 for F3-4).…”

“…The MRI sequence parameters were as follows: a repetition time of one respiratory interval, echo time of 70 ms, 192×108 matrix size, two signal averages, 36-40-cm field of view, 25 slices with a 5-mm slice thickness and a band width of 1735 Hz/pixel. Although the DW-MRI protocol in this study was comparable to that of a previous study [14], imaging in this study was performed with a 3-T MRI system. The signal acquisition time was 3 min and 36 s, and the total scan time was varied depending on the respiratory period of the patients.…”

“…Furthermore, recent improvements in MRI technology have made it feasible to apply diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) to abdominal imaging. Although several recent studies have reported that DW-MRI can assess liver fibrosis using apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values [14,15], conflicting results have been also reported and data on intra-and interobserver reliability of DW-MRI has not yet been evaluated [16].…”

Diffusion‐weighted imaging of the liver: Comparison of navigator triggered and breathhold acquisitions

“…Diffusing water spins within a voxel experience phase dispersion, causing signal attenuation that is dependent on the (12,17,18,47,50), and for liver tumor treatment response (6,11,14,20,(51)(52)(53)(54).…”