Impact of Liver Fibrosis and Fatty Liver on T1rho Measurements: A Prospective Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the liver T1rho values for detecting fibrosis, and the potential impact of fatty liver on T1rho measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included 18 healthy subjects, 18 patients with fatty liver, and 18 patients with liver fibrosis, who underwent T1rho MRI and mDIXON collections. Liver T1rho, proton density fat fraction (PDFF) and T2* values were measured and compared among the three groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the T1rho values for detecting liver fibrosis. Liver T1rho values were correlated with PDFF, T2* values and clinical data. RESULTS: Liver T1rho and PDFF values were significantly different (p 0.05). CONCLUSION: T1rho MRI is useful for noninvasive detection of liver fibrosis, and may not be affected with the presence of fatty liver.

Clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection in immune tolerant phase / 中华传染病杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical and pathological characteristics of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection in immune tolerant phase.Methods Ninety-eight chronic HBV carriers in immune tolerant phase were enrolled in this study.The age,gender,serum HBV DNA level,hepatic inflammatory activity and fibrosis,hepatic HBsAg and HBcAg expressions were analyzed.The grade of inflammatory activity and stage of fibrosis were also compared in patients with different levels of serum alanine aminotransferase(ALT).Data analysis was done by chi-square test. Results In 98 patients,83(84.7%)were＜30 years old and 15(15.3%)were≥30.Patients whose mother was HBsAg positive were 48.0%.High levels of serum HBV DNA were found in all patients, with 78.5% were＞1×107 copy/mL.Only 5 cases(5.1%)were G0 of the inflammatory grade;whereas,64 cases(65.3%)were G1,29(29.6%)were G2.There were 56 patients(57.1%)had no significant liver fibrosis;and 23 cases(23.5%)were S1,14(14.3%)were S2,5(5.1%)were S3;none of patients had cirrhosis.The HBsAg and HBcAg in liver tissues were positive in 79(80.6%)and 80(81.6%)cases,respectively.The fibrosis stages of patients with higher ALT levels were significantly greater than patients with lower ALT levels(X2=8.112 3,P=0.043 7).Conclusions Most of patients with chronic HBV infection in immune tolerant phase present mild inflammation in liver,some of them have already developed fibrosis.Therefore,liver pathology is recommended for these patients to help understand the patients' conditions and make correct therapeutic decisions.