Feasibility of Sodium and Amide Proton Transfer-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging Methods in Mild Steatotic Liver...

Background/Objectives: Fat and inflammation confound current magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods for assessing fibrosis in liver disease. Sodium or amide proton transfer-weighted MRI methods may be more specific for assessing liver fibrosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of sodium and amide proton transfer-weighted MRI in individuals with liver disease and to determine if either method correlated with clinical markers of fibrosis. Methods: T₁ and T₂ relaxation maps, proton density fat fraction maps, liver shear stiffness maps, amide proton transfer-weighted (APTw) images, and sodium images were acquired at 3T. Image data were extracted from regions of interest placed in the liver. ANOVA tests were run with disease status, age, and body mass index as independent factors; significance was set to p < 0.05. Post-hoc t-tests were run when the ANOVA showed significance. Results: A total of 36 participants were enrolled, 34 of whom were included in the final APTw analysis and 24 in the sodium analysis. Estimated liver tissue sodium concentration differentiated participants with liver disease from those without, whereas amide proton transfer-weighted MRI did not. Estimated liver tissue sodium concentration negatively correlated with the Fibrosis-4 score, but amide proton transfer-weighted MRI did not correlate with any clinical marker of disease. Conclusions: Amide proton-weighted imaging was not different between groups. Estimated liver tissue sodium concentrations did differ between groups but did not provide additional information over conventional methods.