Liver/spleen magnetic resonance elastography and T1/T2 mapping in chronic liver disease: a prospective study

This study aims to compare liver and spleen stiffness measurements using magnetic resonance elastography with T1 and T2 relaxation times in patients with chronic liver disease.

A total of 75 chronic liver disease patients and 25 healthy volunteers underwent MR. Patients with significant liver fat and iron accumulation were excluded. Student's t-test was employed to compare magnetic resonance elastography and T1/T2 values. Pearson's correlation test was used to assess the relationship between magnetic resonance elastography and T1/T2 values.

Liver magnetic resonance elastography showed a significant moderate positive correlation with liver T1 mapping (r=0.51, p<0.001) and liver T2 mapping (r=0.30, p=0.009) in patients. Spleen magnetic resonance elastography exhibited a significant moderate positive correlation with spleen T2 mapping (r=0.37, p=0.001). However, there was no significant correlation between spleen magnetic resonance elastography and spleen T1 mapping in patients. Spleen magnetic resonance elastography was moderately positively correlated with liver magnetic resonance elastography (r=0.30, p=0.01), and spleen volume showed positive correlations with spleen magnetic resonance elastography, spleen T1 mapping, and spleen T2 mapping. Cut-off values for liver magnetic resonance elastography, liver T1 mapping, and liver T2 mapping in patient and control groups were 2.6 kPa (AUC=0.97), 619 ms (AUC=0.90), and 52.5 ms (AUC=0.62), respectively.

Relaxation methods offer noninvasive imaging without additional equipment. Liver T1 mapping may serve as an alternative to magnetic resonance elastography for chronic liver patient follow-up, while spleen T1 mapping is not reliable.