Evaluation of patients with chronic liver diseases using T2*-corrected water-fat separation MR imaging: quantification of iron and fat and its clinical application

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In patients with chronic hepatitis C, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, and alcoholic steatohepatitis, which consist the majority of chronic liver disease in Japan, it has been shown that intrahepatic accumulation of both fat and iron plays an important role in the progression of the disease processes. The conventional MR method, however, has failed to precisely separate fat and iron at the same time. To solve this problem, we developed at first 2D sequence, multiecho FFE (mFFE), and validated its usefulness. Then, we further developed 3D sequence to overcome the weakness of mFFE, namely low spatial resolution, and successfully confirmed its usefulness in patients with chronic liver diseases.