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Intraindividual comparison of MRI-derived liver surface nodularity score at 1.5 T and 3 T

  • Hepatobiliary
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Abdominal Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To compare the MRI-derived liver surface nodularity (LSN) scores acquired on both 1.5 T and 3 T.

Materials and methods

Forty chronic liver disease patients who underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI at both 1.5 and 3 T were included. Axial hepatobiliary phase images with the same voxel size were used to calculate the LSN score in both liver lobes with a quantitative software. Rank correlation, Wilcoxon test, and Bland–Altman limits of agreement were used for statistical analysis.

Results

There was a weak correlation between the right and left liver lobe on 1.5 T (rs = 0.331, p = 0.037) and 3 T (rs = 0.381, p = 0.015). The correlation between 1.5 T and 3 T on both liver lobes showed a very strong correlation (right, rs = 0.927, p < 0.001; left, rs = 0.845, p < 0.001). LSN scores differed significantly between both lobes on 1.5 T (median, 1.201 vs. 0.674, right vs. left) and 3 T (1.076 vs. 0.592) (all p < 0.001). LSN scores differed significantly between 1.5 T and 3 T on both lobes (all p < 0.001). The Bland–Altman plot comparing 1.5 T and 3 T on right and left liver lobes showed a systemic bias of 0.08 and 0.07, respectively.

Conclusions

LSN scores differed significantly on 1.5 T vs. 3 T and right vs. left liver lobe. Caution should be made when comparing LSN scores derived from different field strengths or the hepatic lobe. Interplatform, interlobar reproducibility should be resolved to use LSN scores, which is relatively easy to perform without additional hardware or images.

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Abbreviations

LF::

Liver fibrosis

CLD::

Chronic liver disease

HBV::

Hepatitis B virus

HCV::

Hepatitis C virus

NAFLD::

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

HCC::

Hepatocellular carcinoma

LSN::

Liver surface nodularity

HBP::

Hepatobiliary phase

WALTS::

Wonkwang Abdomen and Liver Total Solution

IQR::

Interquartile range

CV::

Coefficient of variation

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the grant of the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare (HI18C1216). The authors thank Wade Martin of Emareye Medical Editing Service for his assistance in editing the article.

Funding

None to be declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Jeonbuk National University Medical School and Hospital, Jeonju, Korea

    Weon Jang & Ji Soo Song

  2. Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Korea

    Weon Jang & Ji Soo Song

  3. Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, 20 Geonji-ro, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju, 54907, Jeonbuk, Korea

    Weon Jang & Ji Soo Song

  4. Medical Convergence Research Center, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea

    Tae-Hoon Kim & Kwon-Ha Yoon

  5. Department of Radiology, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan, South Korea

    Kwon-Ha Yoon

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  1. Weon Jang
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Correspondence to Ji Soo Song.

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Jang, W., Song, J.S., Kim, TH. et al. Intraindividual comparison of MRI-derived liver surface nodularity score at 1.5 T and 3 T. Abdom Radiol 47, 1053–1060 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-022-03415-6

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