Assessing liver function by liver enhancement during the hepatobiliary phase with Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI at 3 Tesla.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced 3-T MRI to determine the hepatic functional reserve expressed by the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score.Methods: A total of 121 patients with normal liver function (NLF; MELD score ≤ 10) and 29 p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:European Radiology Vol. 24; no. 5; pp. 1013 - 1020
Autores principales: Verloh, N, Haimerl, M, Zeman, F, Schlabeck, M, Barreiros, A, Loss, M, Schreyer, A G, Stroszczynski, C, Fellner, C, Wiggermann, P
Formato: research Journal Article
Publicado: Springer Nature May2014
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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Sumario:Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced 3-T MRI to determine the hepatic functional reserve expressed by the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score.Methods: A total of 121 patients with normal liver function (NLF; MELD score ≤ 10) and 29 patients with impaired liver function (ILF; MELD score > 10) underwent contrast-enhanced MRI with a hepatocyte-specific contrast agent at 3T. T1-weighted volume interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE) sequences with fat suppression were acquired before and 20 min after contrast injection. Relative enhancement (RE) between plain signal intensity and contrast-enhanced signal intensity was calculated and was used to determine Gd-EOB-DTPA uptake into the liver parenchyma for patients with different MELD scores.Results: RE differed significantly (p ≤ 0.001) between patients with NLF (87.2 ± 29.5 %) and patients with ILF (45.4 ± 26.5 %). The optimal cut-off value for RE to differentiate NLF from ILF was 47.7 % (AUC 0.87). This cut-off value showed a sensitivity of 82.8 % and a specificity of 92.7 % for the differentiation of the analysed groups.Conclusion: Gd-EOB-DTPA uptake in hepatocytes is strongly affected by liver function. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI and assessment of RE during the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) may serve as a useful image-based test in liver imaging for determining regional and global liver function.Key Points: Hepatic uptake of Gd-EOB-DTPA is strongly affected by liver function. Relative enhancement during HBP in GD-EOB-DTPA MRI correlates with the MELD score. Assessment of relative enhancement may help improve treatment in routine clinical practice.