Comparison of multislice breath-hold and 3D respiratory triggered T1 ρ imaging of liver in healthy volunteers and liver cirrhosis patients in 3.0 T MRI

Abstract

Purpose: To compare visual quality and quantitative measurements of multislice (MS) breath-hold and 3D respiratory-triggered T1 ρ sequences.

Materials and methods: T1 ρ scans including MS BLOCK T1 ρ, MS HS8 T1 ρ, and 3D BLOCK T1 ρ were performed on 40 healthy volunteers and 17 liver cirrhosis patients on 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The MS breath-hold methods scanned three slices while the 3D method covered 26 slices. Visual scores of image quality, T1 ρ measurements of the three sequences, and T1 ρ values of healthy volunteers and cirrhosis patients were compared using parametric tests.

Results: Average visual scores for volunteers and patients of the three sequences were 3.19 and 2.82 for MS BLOCK T1 ρ; 3.71 and 3.59 for MS HS8 T1 ρ; 3.29 and 3.59 for 3D BLOCK T1 ρ, respectively. Difference of visual scores among the three groups was significant (P < 0.001). Differences in T1 ρ values among the three methods were significant (P < 0.001). Difference of T1 ρ between MS BLOCK T1 ρ and 3D BLOCK T1 ρ was not significant (volunteer: P = 0.82, patient: 0.92) while the difference of T1 ρ between MS BLOCK T1 ρ and MS HS8 T1 ρ, MS HS8 T1 ρ and 3D BLOCK T1 ρ was significant in both volunteers and patients (P < 0.01). Differences of T1 ρ between healthy volunteers and patients were all significant in three T1 ρ sequences (P = 0.04, 0.004, 0.03).

Conclusion: Of the tested sequences, the image quality of MS HS8 T1 ρ was best, but 3D BLOCK T1 ρ with respiratory triggering should also be considered as an alternative sequence for clinical diagnosis of liver cirrhosis due to its superior coverage. J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2016;44:906-913.

Keywords: T1ρ imaging; T1ρ mapping; liver cirrhosis; liver imaging.