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Abstract #0261

Non-Invasive Imaging of Diffuse Liver Disease Using Water T2 and Fat Fractions Obtained from a Breath Hold Radial GRASE Method

Maria I. Altbach1, Christian Graff2, Chuang Huang3, V Abraham1, Scott W. Squire1, Denise Bruck4, K Ray4, T Boyer4

1Radiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States; 2Division of Imaging and Applied Math, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, United States; 3Mathematics, University of Arizona, United States; 4Medicine, University of Arizona, United States


The diagnosis of inflammation, fibrosis, and steatosis is important in the characterization of diffuse liver disease such as Hepatitis C, non-alcoholic steatosis (NASH), and cirrhosis. Currently the diagnosis of these pathologies requires a liver biopsy which is an invasive procedure with associated morbidity and cost. Recently our group developed a novel radial gradient and spin-echo (GRASE) method which provides T2 and fat-water mapping with the advantage that the T2 estimation is independent of the presence of fat. The method is fast (data for T2 and fat-water mapping are acquired in a breath hold) and it provides high spatial resolution and motion insensitivity. In this work we provide the first results in patients with various liver conditions and compare T2 and fat-water information to biopsy results.