Accuracy of proton magnetic resonance for diagnosing non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: a meta-analysis

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 15002 - 8
• Main Authors: Kim, Tae-Hoon, Jeong, Chang-Won, Jun, Hong Young, Lee, ChungSub, Noh, SiHyeong, Kim, Ji Eon, Kim, SeungJin, Yoon, Kwon-Ha
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 18.10.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 59; 59/57; 692/308; 692/308/575; 692/700/139; 692/700/1421/1628; Accuracy; Adult; Aged; Biopsy; Data Accuracy; Fatty liver; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Liver - diagnostic imaging; Liver diseases; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Meta-analysis; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; NMR; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - diagnostic imaging; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Odds Ratio; ROC Curve; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensitivity and Specificity; Steatosis
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51302-w

Liver biopsy is the reference standard test to differentiate between non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and simple steatosis (SS) in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but noninvasive diagnostics are warranted. The diagnostic accuracy in NASH using MR imaging modality have not yet been clearly identified. This study was assessed the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method for diagnosing NASH. Data were extracted from research articles obtained after a literature search from multiple electronic databases. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed to obtain overall effect size of the area under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve, sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios(LR), diagnostic odds ratio(DOR) of MRI method in detecting histopathologically-proven SS(or non-NASH) and NASH. Seven studies were analyzed 485 patients, which included 207 SS and 278 NASH. The pooled sensitivity was 87.4% (95% CI, 76.4–95.3) and specificity was 74.3% (95% CI, 62.4–84.6). Pooled positive LR was 2.59 (95% CI, 1.96–3.42) and negative LR was 0.17 (95% CI, 0.07–0.38). DOR was 21.57 (95% CI, 7.27–63.99). The area under the curve of summary ROC was 0.89. Our meta-analysis shows that the MRI-based diagnostic methods are valuable additions in detecting NASH.