L. Martibonmati et al., CHRONIC HEPATITIS AND CIRRHOSIS - EVALUATION BY MEANS OF MR-IMAGING WITH HISTOLOGIC CORRELATION, Radiology, 188(1), 1993, pp. 37-43
To characterize the relationship between findings on magnetic resonanc
e (MR) images and histologic changes in chronic liver disease, a prosp
ective study was performed in 100 patients with chronic hepatitis and
cirrhosis and 28 healthy subjects. Biopsy specimens, obtained in all p
atients before MR imaging, were evaluated with the histologic activity
(HA) index; MR images were obtained with short inversion time inversi
on-recovery (STIR) and spin-echo sequences. On STIR images, normal liv
ers were isointense to fat. Significant differences (P < .001) existed
between signal intensity of normal livers and that of diseased livers
, which were brighter than normal livers on STIR images. The ratio of
signal intensity of liver to that of fat on STIR images was associated
with an HA index grouped by severity (P < .05): Patients with higher
HA scores had a brighter liver. Signal intensity ratios on MR images w
ere statistically significantly associated with periportal and lobular
necrosis and portal inflammation. The signal intensity of liver on ST
IR images is associated with the degree of histologic severity in pati
ents with chronic liver disease.