Hepatic Fat Quantification in Children Using Multi-Echo Gradient-Echo Imaging and Fat Spectral Modeling at 1.5 T

Masoud Shiehmorteza¹, Takeshi Yokoo¹, Gavin Hamilton¹, Mark Bydder¹, Manuel Rodriguez¹, Joel E. Lavine², Jeffrey B. Schwimmer², Claude B. Sirlin¹

Fatty liver disease is currently the most common cause of liver disease in children (12-17% prevalence). Although MR imaging has been applied to children previously, the accuracy of fat quantification has not been verified. Confirming that MR imaging is accurate in children is necessary because they may not be able or willing to cooperate with MR examinations. Also, the histological features of pediatric FLD differ from those of adult FLD, and generalization of adult studys data may not be valid. In this dedicated pediatric study, we assessed fat estimation accuracy of MR imaging, using single-voxel MR spectroscopy as the reference.