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Abstract #0357

Non-invasive quantification and characterisation of liver fat in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using automated analysis of MRS correlated with histology

Robert Flintham1, Peter Eddowes2, Scott Semple3, Natasha McDonald4, Jonathan Fallowfield4, Tim Kendall5, Stefan Hübscher6, Philip Newsome2, Gideon Hirschfield2, and Nigel Paul Davies1,7

1Medical Physics, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2Centre for Liver Research, NIHR Biomedical Research Unit, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 3Clinical Research Imaging Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 4MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 5MRC Human Genetics Unit, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 6Pathology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 7Institute of Cancer and Genomics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

MRS is proven to accurately measure liver fat fraction (FF), but its potential to differentiate steatohepatitis from simple steatosis in non-alcohol related fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is unexplored. MRS was acquired in 60 patients with suspected NAFLD across two centres prior to biopsy. Automated analysis was developed using TARQUIN to estimate FF, lipid chain length (CL) and number of double-bonds per chain (nDB) revealing strong correlations between FF, nDB, CL and steatosis grade. nDB also negatively correlated with hepatocyte ballooning assessed by histopathology. Further investigation of the relationship between MRS-derived lipid composition measurements and disease severity in NAFLD is warranted.

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