Journal of Clinical Medicine
Assessment of Liver Fibrosis Using the Coefficient of Variation on Gadoxetic Acid-Enhanced Hepatobiliary Phase MR Imaging: A Prospective Multicenter Study
By Youe Ree Kim, Tae‐Hoon Kim, Chang‐Won Jeong and 10 others.
Abstract
Background
Accurate non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis is needed in patients with chronic liver disease. Gadoxetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced hepatobiliary phase (HBP) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging reflects hepatocyte function and parenchymal heterogeneity, and the coefficient of variation (CV), which quantifies pixel-level signal inhomogeneity, has been proposed as a quantitative imaging biomarker of liver fibrosis. However, previous studies were retrospective, single-center, and lacked direct pathological validation.
Objectives
To investigate the factors associated with CV on HBP images, evaluate the correlation between CV and pathologically confirmed liver fibrosis stage, and compare the diagnostic performance of CV with serum biomarkers, including the aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4), in a prospective multicenter setting.