QUANTIFICATION OF LIVER IRON IN CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE USING 3 TESLA MRI

Abstract

Aims And Objectives: 1. To assess the feasibility and evaluate the performance of various 3 Tesla MR imaging techniques in the detection and quantication of hepatic iron in patients with chronic liver disease. 2.To understand the scope of liver diseases with respect to iron deposition and to dene a correlation between liver disease and liver iron concentration. Materials And Methods: Present prospective cross-sectional study was carried out during the period of December 2019 to May 2021 in 31 patients with chronic liver disease who underwent MR imaging using 3T MR scanner (General Electric, Signa Pioneer) with a body coil. Liver signal intensity in three different locations were measured. The L/M ratio (signal intensity ratio/SIR) was calculated by dividing mean liver signal intensity by mean muscle signal intensity. The T2* and R2* method was also carried out from the same sequence. The Liver Iron Concentration (LIC) was obtained from R2* and SIR using the DICOM Software MRQuantif. Results: Among the 31 patients studied, 16 of them had serum ferritin ≤464 μg/dL and 15 had Serum Ferritin >464 μg/Dl and 14 of them had TIBC <261 μg/dL and 17 had TIBC ≥261 μg/dL. A statistically signicant (p = <0.001) strong negative correlation was established between Serum Ferritin and T2*and a statistically signicant strong positive correlation was established between TIBC and T2* Considering Liver Iron Concentration, there was a statistically signicant strong positive correlation between LIC and Serum Ferritin, and a statistically signicant strong negative correlation between TIBC and LIC. Conclusion: SIR and T2* MR imaging techniques are feasible in determining and quantifying hepatic iron in patients with chronic liver disease. From our study ndings we could dene a positive correlation between liver disease and liver iron concentration