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Qualitative evaluation of chronic diffuse liver disease by STIR MRI
M Morijiri1, H Seto, Y Kamisaki
1Department of Radiology, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan.
Objective:
The purpose of our study was to characterize the relationship between signal intensity on STIR MRI, histology, and liver function.
Materials And Methods:
MRI was performed in 39 patients with chronic liver diseases [chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH), chronic active hepatitis (CAH), liver cirrhosis (LC)] and 11 patients without liver dysfunction (normal).
Results:
On STIR images, very low signal intensities compared with those of the spleen were seen in all 11 normal livers (100%), and brighter intensities were seen in chronic diffuse liver diseases (10 patients with CPH, 11 patients with CAH, and 18 patients with LC) (100%). The higher the signal grade on STIR images (moderate, marked), the more advanced was the chronic diffuse liver disease (p < 0.02). The levels of serum glutamic-oxaloacetic and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase increased in parallel with increasing signal intensity on STIR images (both p < 0.01).
Conclusion:
We found that the signal intensity of liver on STIR images appeared to be associated with the degree of histologic and/or clinical severity in patients with chronic liver disease.