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Improving Detection of Iron Deposition in Cirrhotic Liver Using Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging With Emphasis on
Ruo-Kun Li1, Meng-Su Zeng, Jin-Wei Qiang
1From the *Department of Radiology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University; †Department of Radiology, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University; ‡Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai School of Medicine, Shanghai Medical Imaging Institute, Shanghai, China; §Department of Radiology, Keck Medical Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; ∥Department of Pathology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University; and ¶Siemens Ltd, China Healthcare Sector MR Business, Shanghai, China.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to investigate the value of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) for detection and quantification of iron deposition in cirrhotic liver.
Methods:
Fifty-five cirrhotic patients underwent hepatic magnetic resonance imaging examination including SWI and multiecho T2*-weighted imaging (T2*WI). Detection of iron deposition and number of siderotic nodules were compared between SWI and T2*WI. Correlation among SWI phase value, T2* value, and hepatic iron concentration were determined.
Results:
Susceptibility-weighted imaging significantly improved detection of iron deposition compared with T2*WI (90.7% vs 66.7%, P = 0.002), attributing to grade 1 (73.3% vs 26.7%, P = 0.027) and grade 2 (93.8% vs 56.3%, P = 0.037). Iron deposition of grade 3 and 4 could be detected by both SWI and T2*WI. The number of siderotic nodules visualized on SWI was significantly larger than that on T2*WI (107.5 ± 7.4 vs 62.7 ± 4.6, P = 0.002). There were significantly negative correlation between phase value and iron score (r = -0.803), and positive correlation between phase value and T2* value (r = 0.771).
Conclusions:
Susceptibility-weighted imaging can improve detection of minimal and mild iron deposition in cirrhotic liver.
