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.
Keywords