Abstract #2301

Guzman G, Cotler S, Zhou X, Layden T, Layden-Almer J, Schwartz K, Mazzone T

We describe an MR technique for quantitatively measuring the liver fat content in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The technique relies on chemically selective saturation, and requires a calibration scan of a liver phantom with known fat contents. Our results from ten patients indicate that the liver fat content revealed by MR correlates well with optical image analysis. The results also show that pathologists assessment appears to overestimate fat content and this tendency is accentuated with higher degrees of liver fat. These findings suggest that the proposed technique is potentially useful for evaluating the presence of NAFLD.