Abstract #2211

Kim H, Pinus A, Qiu M, Wang Y, Todd Constable R

Liver cirrhosis can be characterized by portal hypertension. The current gold standard for diagnosis is biopsy but this is limited by its invasive nature. A new MR model of the portal pressure gradient is presented that provides reproducible non-invasive diagnosis of liver cirrhosis. The method is tested in CCl4 induced cirrhotic and normal rats. This approach revealed statistically significant differences in portal pressure gradient along the portal vein between cirrhotic and normal control rats, suggesting that the portal pressure gradient method is potentially useful in the diagnosis of liver cirrhosis.