HEPATIC STEATOSIS IN LIVER DONORS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY AND MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING – PROTON DENSITY FAT FRACTION BASED HEPATIC FAT GRADINGS.

Abstract

Background: Living donor liver transplantation is being used as the main therapeutic option in the management of end-stage liver disease patients especially since there is inadequate availability of deceased donors. Degree of hepatic steatosis in prospective liver donors can affect the tissue regeneration in both donors and recipients and as well as the success of the surgery. MRI-PDFF is the best modality for the non-invasive assessment of hepatic steatosis in the literature, however CT is more commonly employed for the same. The qualitative data of hepatic fat using CT based methods are compared with MRI-PDFF based gradings. Methods: The study included 35 prospective liver donors assessed between August 2018 to August 2020. All patients were evaluated with MRI- PDFF (IDEAL) sequence and fat fraction maps were obtained. The mean fat percentage was calculated and grading of hepatic steatosis was done. In plain MDCT 0.5 mm CT cuts, mean values of hepatic CT attenuation values corresponding MRI fat fraction maps were taken. Grading of the hepatic steatosis based on CT parameters like liver-spleen attenuation ratio (L/S) and liver-spleen attenuation difference(L-S) was done. Both CT and MRI based gradings were assessed for any statistical difference. Results: The categorical data (grading) based on MR derived fat fraction and both CT based parameters mentioned above were evaluated with Chi Square test that showed no significant difference (p = 0.083). Conclusion: Grading of hepatic steatosis using CT based parameters shows no statistically significant difference with MRI-PDFF based grading.