Detection of siderotic nodules in the liver with susceptibility weighted imaging： correlations to serum ferritin, Child-Pugh grade and hyaluronic acid levels

• Published in: Chinese medical journal Vol. 125; no. 17; pp. 3110 - 3114
• Main Authors: Tao, Ran, You, Zhong-Lan, Zhang, Jiu-Quan, Dai, Yong-Ming, Zhou, Dai-Quan, Cai, Ping, Fan, Yi, Cui, Jin-Guo, Wang, Jian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Department of Radiology ,Southwest Hospital,Third Military Medical University,Chongqing 400038,China 05.09.2012; Department of Radiology,Bethune International Peace Hospital of People's Liberty Army,Shijiazhuang,Hebei 050082,China%Department of Infectious Diseases ,Southwest Hospital,Third Military Medical University,Chongqing 400038,China%Department of Radiology ,Southwest Hospital,Third Military Medical University,Chongqing 400038,China%Siemens Healthcare China,MR Collaborations NE Asia,Shanghai 201318,China%Department of Radiology,Bethune International Peace Hospital of People's Liberty Army,Shijiazhuang,Hebei 050082,China
• Subjects: Adult; Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Female; Ferritins - blood; Humans; Hyaluronic Acid - blood; Liver - pathology; Liver Cirrhosis - blood; Liver Cirrhosis - pathology; Male; Middle Aged; Sensitivity and Specificity; 加权; 成像; 敏感性; 检测; 结节; 肝脏疾病; 血清铁蛋白; 酸水; ferritin; susceptibility weighted imaging; siderotic nodules; liver cirrhosis; Child-Pugh classification; hyaluronic acid
• ISSN: 0366-6999; 2542-5641
• DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.0366-6999.2012.17.026

Background Chronic liver disease causes aberrant formation of fibrous tissue that impedes normal liver function, ultimately resulting in liver cirrhosis. Iron uptake can occur within the hepatic parenchyma or within the various nodules that form in a cirrhotic liver, termed siderotic nodules （SN）. We aimed to investigate the diagnostic performance of susceptibility weighted imaging （SWI） for detection of SN in patients with liver cirrhosis, and to evaluate the potential of SN numbers for assessing the degree of hepatic iron deposition, liver function, and liver fibrosis stage. Methods Ninety-one patients with chronic liver cirrhosis, who underwent megnetic resonance imagine （MRI） scanning in our department between November 2010 and April 2011, were included in the study. A 3.0T MRI scanner was used to acquire T1WI, T2WI, T2＊WI, and SWI images. The number of nodules, signal intensity ratio （SIR）, and contrast noise ratio （CNR） were recorded and analyzed by chi-square and ANOVA statistical tests. Correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlations between the number of SN and Child-Pugh classification, ferritin and hyaluronic acid levels. Results The sensitivity of SWI, T1WI, T2WI, and T2＊WI for detecting SN was 62.5%, 12.1%, 24.2% and 41.8%, respectively. SWI detected significantly more nodules than routine T1WI, T2WI, and T2＊WI procedures （P 〈0.05）. The SIR was the lowest in SWI （0.361±0.209）, as compared to T1WI （0.852±0.163）, T2WI （0.584±0.172）, and T2＊WI （0.497±0.196）. The CNR was the highest in SWI （13.932±5.637）, as compared to T1WI （9.147±5.785）, T2WI （9.771±5.490）, and T2＊WI （11.491±4.573）. The correlation coefficients of the number of SN with ferritin, Child-Pugh classification, and hyaluronic acid levels were 0.672, -0.055, and 0.163, respectively. Conclusions The sensitivity and contrast of SWI for detecting SN in patients with liver cirrhosis are higher than conventional MRI. The number of SN can help to assess the degree of iron deposition in patients with liver cirrhosis.