Tag MRI of the Liver as a New Method to Differentiate Normal vs. Cirrhotic Livers

Lorenzo Mannelli¹, Orpheus Kolokythas¹, Theodore Jay Dubinsky¹, Martin Gunn¹, Christopher A. Potter¹, Jeffrey H. Maki¹

This study evaluates the possibility to differentiate in cirrhotic from healthy livers using tagMRI. TagMRI studies tissues strain, and is routinely used in cardiac imaging to evaluate myocardial motion through its strain. In this study we use the heart beating as source of liver deformation to evaluate liver strain. In cirrhotic patients liver stiffness increases and increments in stiffness induce decrements in tissue deformability; these differences can be quantified by strain. Our data demonstrate that our hypothesis is correct.