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Diffusion‐weighted MR imaging of the liver of hepatitis C patients
Author(s) -
Boulanger Yvan,
Amara Mourad,
Lepanto Luigi,
Beaudoin Gilles,
Nguyen Bich N.,
Allaire Guy,
Poliquin Marc,
Nicolet Viviane
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
nmr in biomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.278
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1099-1492
pISSN - 0952-3480
DOI - 10.1002/nbm.818
Subject(s) - effective diffusion coefficient , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , diffusion mri , liver biopsy , fibrosis , hepatitis , inflammation , biopsy , nuclear medicine , viral hepatitis , hepatitis c , liver fibrosis , pathology , nuclear magnetic resonance , gastroenterology , radiology , physics
Magnetic resonance diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) of the liver was investigated to determine whether this method could be used to differentiate between the stages of fibrosis and inflammation for hepatitis C viral infection. DWI data were recorded for 18 hepatitis C patients and 10 control subjects using a modified pulse sequence allowing a 52 ms echo time delay. Acquisitions were performed with breath holding using five different b gradient factor values ranging between 50 and 250 s/mm 2 and in the three axes. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were measured from a 5.7 cm 2 area in the central region of the liver. The inflammation and fibrosis grades were evaluated histologically on a biopsy sample. The mean ADC values were 2.30 ± 1.28 × 10 −3 and 1.79 ± 0.25 × 10 −3 mm 2 /s for hepatitis C patients and control subjects, respectively. Using our technique, no correlation could be found between the ADC values and the inflammation or fibrosis scores, indicating that tissue changes produced by hepatitis C do not appear to be quantifiable by DWI. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.