Detecting Early‐Stage Liver Fibrosis Using Macromolecular Proton Fraction Mapping Based on Spin‐Lock MRI : Preliminary Observations

作者：Jian Hou, Vincent Wai‐Sun Wong, Yurui Qian, Baiyan Jiang, Anthony W.H. Chan, Howard H.W. Leung, Grace Lai‐Hung Wong, Simon C.H. Yu, Chiu‐Wing Winnie Chu, Weitian Chen · 发表于：Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1002/jmri.28308 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications、Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment、Advanced NMR Techniques and Applications

BACKGROUND: Liver fibrosis is characterized by macromolecule depositions. Recently, a novel technology termed macromolecular proton fraction quantification based on spin-lock magnetic resonance imaging (MPF-SL) is reported to measure macromolecule levels. HYPOTHESIS: MPF-SL can detect early-stage liver fibrosis by measuring macromolecule levels in the liver. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective. SUBJECTS: Fifty-five participants, including 22 with no fibrosis (F0) and 33 with early-stage fibrosis (F1-2), were recruited. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 3 T; two-dimensional (2D) MPF-SL turbo spin-echo sequence, 2D spin-lock T1rho turbo spin-echo sequence, and multi-slice 2D gradient echo sequence. ASSESSMENT: Macromolecular proton fraction (MPF), T1rho, liver iron concentration (LIC), and fat fraction (FF) biomarkers were quantified within regions of interest. STATISTICAL TESTS: Group comparison of the biomarkers using Mann-Whitney U tests; correlation between the biomarkers assessed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and linear regression with goodness-of-fit; fibrosis stage differentiation using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Average T1rho was 41.76 ± 2.94 msec for F0 and 41.15 ± 3.73 msec for F1-2 (P = 0.60). T1rho showed nonsignificant correlation with either liver fibrosis (ρ = -0.07; P = 0.61) or FF (ρ = -0.14; P = 0.35) but indicated a negative correlation with LIC (ρ = -0.66). MPF was 4....