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Simultaneous measurement of hepatic and splenic stiffness using MR elastography: preliminary experience

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Abstract

Purpose

To compare MR elastography (MRE) using a single and a dual driver excitation for the quantification of hepatic and splenic stiffness (HS and SS), and to investigate the performance of HS and SS measured with single or dual driver excitation for the detection of liver cirrhosis in subjects with liver disease.

Patients and methods

This prospective HIPAA compliant and IRB approved study involved 49 subjects who underwent MRE at 3.0T, comparing three different acquisition methods (single driver on the liver, single driver on the spleen and dual driver acoustic excitation). A Mann–Whitney test was used to assess changes in stiffness values. Bland–Altman analysis was used to compare single and dual driver configurations for each organ. Performance for detection of liver cirrhosis was assessed using ROC analysis. Pearson correlation was used to estimate the dependence of HS and SS on spleen size.

Results

There were 40 noncirrhotic and 9 cirrhotic patients. There was good agreement between stiffness values measured with a single or a dual driver (Bland–Altman limits of agreement −14.3 % to 18.9 % and −18.1 % to 29.7 %, CV 6.4 % and 9.4 %, for HS and SS. respectively). HS and SS were higher in subjects with liver cirrhosis (p < 0.001), with excellent detection performance (AUROC range 0.87–0.93). SS correlated strongly with spleen size (r = 0.69, p < 0.001), while HS showed weak correlation (r = 0.38, p = 0.006).

Conclusion

Using a dual acoustic driver configuration, hepatic and splenic stiffness can be simultaneously estimated with good concordance with single driver measurement.

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Abbreviations

HS:

Hepatic stiffness

MR elastography:

Magnetic resonance elastography

PH:

Portal hypertension

SS:

Splenic stiffness

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Acknowledgments

NIDDK Grant 1R01DK087877, GE Healthcare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology/Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, Box 1234, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Hadrien A. Dyvorne, Guido H. Jajamovich, Cecilia Besa, Nancy Cooper & Bachir Taouli

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  1. Hadrien A. Dyvorne
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  2. Guido H. Jajamovich
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  3. Cecilia Besa
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Correspondence to Bachir Taouli.

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Dyvorne, H.A., Jajamovich, G.H., Besa, C. et al. Simultaneous measurement of hepatic and splenic stiffness using MR elastography: preliminary experience. Abdom Imaging 40, 803–809 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-014-0255-1

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