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2000
Volume 21, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1573-4056
  • E-ISSN: 1875-6603
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Abstract

Introduction

Liver fibrosis is a key pathological process that can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure. Although magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is an established noninvasive method for fibrosis staging, its clinical application is limited by hardware dependence. The diagnostic utility of diffusion-weighted imaging-based virtual MRE (vMRE) and B1-corrected T1 mapping in liver fibrosis assessment remains to be further investigated.

Methods

Forty rabbits were included in the final analysis: CCl-induced fibrosis (n=33) and control (n=7). Following Gd-EOB-DTPA administration, DWI and T1 mapping sequences were executed at 5 and 10 minutes. Diagnostic efficacy and correlations of vMRE and T1 mapping in a rabbit liver fibrosis model were evaluated.

Results

Rabbits were classified into three groups: Control (n=7), Nonadvanced fibrosis (F1-F2, n=20), and Advanced fibrosis (F3-F4, n=13). The AUC values for T1post_5min, T1post_10min, rΔT1_10min, and μdiff in distinguishing controls from nonadvanced and advanced fibrosis groups were (0.78, 0.82, 0.71), (0.82, 0.85, 0.77), and (0.62, 0.69, 0.74), respectively, with μdiff showing (0.90, 0.93, 0.66). A significant positive correlation existed between μdiff and liver fibrosis grade (r=0.534, p<0.001).

Discussion

μdiff correlated well with fibrosis severity and effectively identified fibrotic livers, but showed limited ability to distinguish fibrosis stages, likely due to overlapping tissue stiffness. B1-corrected T1 mapping offered complementary functional information, with the 10-minute post-contrast time point providing the best staging performance, thereby enhancing the overall diagnostic value.

Conclusion

Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1 mapping and DWI-based vMRE provide substantial noninvasive assessment of liver fibrosis.

© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Bentham Science Publishers.
This is an open access article published under CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
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Diagnostic Evaluation of Liver Fibrosis using B1-Corrected T1 Mapping and DWI-Based Virtual Elastography
Curr. Med. Imaging 21, E15734056401119 (2025); https://doi.org/10.2174/0115734056401119250908130930
/content/journals/cmir/10.2174/0115734056401119250908130930
/content/journals/cmir/10.2174/0115734056401119250908130930
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  • Article Type:     Research Article
Keyword(s): cirrhosis; Fibrosis imaging; Liver biopsy; Liver fibrosis; Magnetic resonance elastography; T1 mapping; tissue stiffness

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