Functional liver imaging score derived from hepatobiliary-specific contrast-enhanced MRI: a study on agreement and...

Area of Science:

• Radiology and Hepatology
• Medical Imaging Analysis
• Liver Disease Assessment

Background:

• Chronic liver disease (CLD) assessment relies on invasive methods.
• Non-invasive imaging biomarkers are needed for accurate staging and monitoring.
• The Functional Liver Imaging Score (FLIS) is a potential imaging tool for liver function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the inter- and intra-observer agreement of FLIS.
• To assess FLIS correlation with liver function tests and Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) scores.
• To determine FLIS diagnostic efficacy in differentiating CLD stages.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 203 patients' imaging data (2017-2021).
• Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) used for agreement assessment.
• Spearman correlation and ROC curve analysis for FLIS correlation and diagnostic efficacy.

Main Results:

• Excellent inter- and intra-observer agreement for FLIS across different radiologists, HBP phases, and populations (ICC > 0.88).
• Significant correlations observed between FLIS and albumin, total bilirubin, INR, prothrombin time, and CTP scores (correlation coefficients ranging from -0.818 to 0.617).
• FLIS demonstrated good diagnostic efficacy in differentiating CLD stages and CTP grades (AUCs ranging from 0.708 to 0.908).

Conclusions:

• FLIS exhibits high reliability and reproducibility among observers and across various clinical scenarios.
• FLIS is a valuable imaging biomarker that correlates well with established liver function parameters.
• FLIS serves as a promising non-invasive tool for assessing liver function and staging CLD.