Primary Study Of MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging In Liver Disease

Part I Primary Study of MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Liver CirrhosisObjective:To investigate the usefulness value of Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DT-MRI) in liver cirrhosis. Materials and Methods:20 patients who were diagnosed liver cirrhosis clinically and 26 healthy volunteers underwent conventional MRI and DTI examination, and the apparent diffusion coefficient maps and fractional anisotropy maps were obtained, the average ADC values and FA values were measured. The ADC values and the FA values compared between the cirrhosis group and healthy control group by using a two-sample t test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant difference. All statistical analyses were conducted by using software (SPSS, version 17.0; SPSS). Results:ADC values were significantly reduced in the cirrhotic liver group [(1.308±0.188)x10-3mm2/s)] compared with those in the healthy control group [(1.515±0.134)x10-3mm2/s)] (P<0.001). While FA values were significantly increased in the cirrhotic liver group (0.344±0.124) compared with those in the healthy liver group (0.259±0.067)(P= 0.010). Conclusion:Liver DT-MRI is an evolving technology with the potential to improve liver tissue characterization, which can help to diagnosis liver cirrhosis when combined with conventional MRI sequences.Part II Primary Study of MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Focal Hepatic LesionsObjective:To investigate the usefulness value of Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DT-MRI) in focal hepatic lesions. Materials and Methods:48 cases of patients documented liver diseases pathologically collected and 20 healthy volunteers from January 2010 to October 2010 were included in this study,which were divided into 5 groups:hepatocellular carcinoma group(n=15, mean age is 55.9 years; range 39-70years), hepatic metastasis group (n=6, mean age is 63 years, range 49-77 years), hepatic hemangioma group(n=14, mean age is 48 years,range 42-59 years) and hepatic cyst group (n=12, mean age is 58.3 years, range 40-76 years), healthy control group(n=20, mean age is 47.8 years, range 15-70 years). Five groups underwent conventional MRI and DTI examination, the apparent diffusion coefficient maps and fractional anisotropy maps were obtained, and the average ADC values and FA values were measured. The ADC values and the FA values between any two groups were compared by using a two-sample t test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant difference. All statistical analyses were conducted by using software (SPSS, version 17.0; SPSS). Results: The ADC values of hepatocellular carcinoma group, hepatic metastasis group, hepatic hemangioma group, hepatic cyst group, the malignant group (hepatocellular carcinoma group and hepatic metastasis group),and the benign group (hepatic hemangioma group and hepatic cyst group) are (1.395±0.097)×10-3mm2/s, (1.404±0.034) X 10"3mm2/s, (2.379±0.523)×10-3mm2/s, (3.645±0.298)×10-3mm2/s, (1.398±0.081)×10"3mm2/s, and(2.963±0.778) X 10-3mm2/s respectively, and FA values 0.211±0.031,0.238±0.044,0.256±0.049,0.139±0.045,0.219±0.037, and 0.203±0.077 respectively. ADC and FA values have no significantly difference between hepatocellular carcinoma group and hepatic metastasis group(P=0.816), and have significant difference between hepatic hemangioma group and hepatic cyst group(P<0.001,P=0.002),ADC values in the malignant group were significantly lower compared with those in the benign group (P<0.001), while FA values have no significantly difference between the malignant and benign group (P=0.469). Conclusion:Liver DT-MRI is an evolving technology with the potential to improve liver tissue characterization, which can help to diagnosis focal hepatic lesions when combined with conventional MRI sequences.