3.0T ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy for assessment of steatosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C

• Published in: World journal of gastroenterology : WJG 2015-06, Vol.21 (21), p.6736-6744
• Main Authors: Zhang, Qian, Zhang, Hui-Mao, Qi, Wen-Qian, Zhang, Yong-Gui, Zhao, Ping, Jiao, Jian, Wang, Jiang-Bin, Zhang, Chun-Yu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Area Under Curve; Biomarkers - analysis; Biopsy; Fatty Liver - diagnosis; Fatty Liver - metabolism; Fatty Liver - virology; Female; Hepatitis C, Chronic - complications; Hepatitis C, Chronic - diagnosis; Humans; Lipids - analysis; Liver - chemistry; Liver - pathology; Liver - virology; Male; Middle Aged; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; Prospective Study; Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; ROC Curve; Severity of Illness Index; Water - analysis
• ISSN: 1007-9327; 2219-2840
• DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i21.6736

To investigate the utility of (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) as a noninvasive test for steatosis in patients infected with hepatitis C virus. Ninety patients with chronic hepatitis C and pathology data underwent 3.0T (1)H MRS, and the results of MRS and pathological analysis were compared. This group of patients included 26 people with mild fatty liver (28.89%), 16 people with moderate fatty liver (17.78%), 18 people with severe fatty liver (20.0%), and 30 people without fatty liver (33.33%). The water peak was near 4.7 parts per million (ppm), and the lipid peak was near 1.3 ppm. Analysis of variance revealed that differences in the lipid peak, the area under the lipid peak, ratio of the lipid peak to the water peak, and ratio of the area under the lipid peak to the area under the water peak were statistically significant among the groups. Specifically, as the severity of fatty liver increased, the value of each index increased correspondingly. In the pairwise comparisons, the mean lipid peak, area under the lipid peak, ratio of the lipid peak to the water peak, and ratio of the area under the lipid peak to the area under the water peak were significantly different between the no fatty liver and moderate fatty liver groups, whereas no differences were noted between the severe fatty liver group and the mild or moderate fatty liver group. Area under the ROC curve (AUC) of area ratio in lipid and water and ratio in lipid and water in the no fatty liver group to mild fatty liver group, mild fatty liver group to moderate fatty liver group, and moderate fatty liver disease group to severe fatty liver group, were 0.705, 0.900, and 0.975, respectively. (1)H MRS is a noninvasive technique that can be used to provide information on the effect of liver steatosis on hepatic metabolic processes. This study indicates that the (1)H MRS can be used as an indicator of steatosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C.