Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging Quantification of Liver Microscopic Changes  in Rats Following Partial Hepatectomy at Different Proportions

In this study, we used DKI to quantify the microscopic changes of residual liver in two groups of rats with different proportions of a partial hepatectomy (PH). All the rats underwent DWI to acquire DKI data at baseline and multiple time points after surgery. The results showed that DKI-derived MD in the 70% PH group were lower than in the 30% PH group at all time points after surgery. MD decreased to a minimum by the fifth day before rising back to baseline. This suggests that DKI is a practical technique for the timely evaluation of the liver regeneration process.