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MR elastography of liver: current status and future perspectives

  • Special Section: Diffuse Liver Disease
  • Published:
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Abstract

Non-invasive evaluation of liver fibrosis has evolved over the last couple of decades. Currently, elastography techniques are the most widely used non-invasive methods for clinical evaluation of chronic liver disease (CLD). MR elastography (MRE) of the liver has been used in the clinical practice for nearly a decade and continues to be widely accepted for detection and staging of liver fibrosis. With MRE, one can directly visualize propagating shear waves through the liver and an inversion algorithm in the scanner automatically converts the shear wave properties into an elastogram (stiffness map) on which liver stiffness can be calculated. The commonly used MRE method, two-dimensional gradient recalled echo (2D-GRE) sequence has produced excellent results in the evaluation of liver fibrosis in CLD from various etiologies and newer clinical indications continue to emerge. Advances in MRE technique, including 3D MRE, automated liver elasticity calculation, improvements in shear wave delivery and patient experience, are promising to provide a faster and more reliable MRE of liver. Innovations, including evaluation of mechanical parameters, such as loss modulus, displacement, and volumetric strain, are promising for comprehensive evaluation of CLD as well as understanding pathophysiology, and in differentiating various etiologies of CLD. In this review, the current status of the MRE of liver in CLD are outlined and followed by a brief description of advanced techniques and innovations in MRE of liver.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the assistance of Lucy Bahn, PhD, in preparation of this manuscript. Dr. Meng Yin acknowledges the support from NIH grant (EB017197) and U.S. Department of Defense grant (W81XWH-19-1-0583-01). Dr. Sudhakar Venkatesh acknowledges support from U.S. Department of Defense grant (W81XWH-19-1-0583-01) and NIH grant R37 EB001981.

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  1. Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic Alix College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Ilkay S. Idilman, Jiahui Li, Meng Yin & Sudhakar K. Venkatesh

  2. Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Ilkay S. Idilman

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  1. Ilkay S. Idilman
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Idilman, I.S., Li, J., Yin, M. et al. MR elastography of liver: current status and future perspectives. Abdom Radiol 45, 3444–3462 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-020-02656-7

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