Abstract #0842

Diffusion-Weighted MRI of the Liver at 3T MRI: Effect of Steatosis on ADC at Low & High B Values

Andrew James Gilman¹, Susan Moyher Noworolski¹, Mamak Eatesam¹, Jennifer Lynne Dodge¹, Raphael Brendan Merriman², Aliya Qayyum¹

¹Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States; ²Division of Gastroenterology, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA, United States

The relationship between liver ADC and steatosis was evaluated for high (125, 500), low (0, 125), and conventional (0, 500) b-value DWI at 3T in 6 healthy volunteers and 12 patients with NAFLD or HCV. Subjects with steatosis grade 1 or 2 (n=5) had significantly lower high b-value ADC compared to those with grade 0 (n=13) for both large (0.88 versus 1.09, p<0.04) and small (0.82 versus 1.12, p<0.02) ROIs. The effect of steatosis on liver ADC should be taken into account when using DWI to discriminate between features of diffuse liver disease.