Chemical Shift Color Parametric Maps for Quantification and Grading of Hepatic Steatosis in Normal and Abnormal Body Mass Index

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the role of chemical shift color parametric maps for quantification and grading of hepatic steatosis and correlate its association with normal and abnormal body mass index (BMI). Methodology: IEC approved cross-sectional study was conducted in 50 cases, classified into normal, overweight/obese groups based on their BMI. In this study, the LiverLab software was used to quantify and grade hepatic steatosis. Results: The comparison of proton density fat fraction-fat percentage between the three groups was done using the one-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests which showed that obese group has the highest value of 14.15 and normal group has the least value of 4.568. This difference is statistically significant with a test value of 82.97 and P < 0.001. Conclusion: Chemical shift imaging is a noninvasive and fast acquisition method for hepatic fat quantification and also grades the severity of hepatic steatosis. We could quantify fat percentage of the entire liver, grade and further correlate it with BMI. Advances in Knowledge: This can be useful in detecting early cases of liver steatosis and early lifestyle modification changes that can be made to decrease liver fat content and thereby decreasing the burden of silent epidemics such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and cardiovascular diseases.