The value of gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid enhanced T1 mapping MRI in the quantitative evaluation of hepatic fibrosis in patients with hepatitis B

Objective To investigate the quantitative evaluation efficiency of gadolinium- ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) enhanced T1 mapping in staging hepatic fibrosis caused by viral hepatitis B. Methods One hundred and fifty patients with chronic hepatitis B were prospectively enrolled in Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University from August 2016 to August 2018.These patients underwent liver aspiration biopsy were divided into four subgroups: S1 (n=38), S2 (n=30), S3 (n=33), S4 (n=49) according to Scheuer-Ludwig scoring system. Non-enhanced and Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI were performed in all subjects. Look-Locker sequences were performed to acquire T1 mapping of pre and post-contrast at 20 minutes after Gd-EOB-DTPA administration. The T1 value after 20 minutes of Gd-EOB-DTPA administration (T1 20 min), the reduction rate of T1 value (ΔT1 20 min%), the increase of 1/T1 value (ΔR1 20 min%) were measured and calculated. The one-way ANOVA was applied to compare the difference in T1 20 min, ΔT1 20 min%, ΔR1 20 min% of various fibrosis stages. ROC curves were used to assess the efficacy of T1 20 min, ΔT1 20 min%, ΔR1 20 min% for diagnosing ≥ S2, ≥ S3, ≥ S4. P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results The T1 20 min raised with fibrosis stage increased, ΔT1 20 min% and ΔR1 20 min% reduced with fibrosis stage increased. Areas under the curves of T1 20 min, ΔT1 20 min%, ΔR1 20 min% for diagnosing ≥ S2 were 0.844, 0.905, 0.869; and diagnosing ≥ S3 were 0.832, 0.907, 0.862; and diagnosing ≥ S4 were 0.853, 0.897, 0.873, respectively. The diagnostic efficiency of ΔT1 20 min% was the best. Conclusion Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1 mapping could be regarded as a reliable diagnostic tool for the evaluation of hepatic fibrosis caused by viral hepatitis B. Key words: Hepatic fibrosis; Magnetic resonance imaging; Gadoxetate acid disodium; T1 mapping