MRI evaluation of fatty liver in day to day practice: Quantitative and qualitative methods

• Main Authors: Kiran Gangadhar, Kedar N. Chintapalli, Gilbert Cortez, Sandhya Vinu Nair
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2014-09-01
• Series: The Egyptian Journal of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
• Subjects: Hepatic steatosis; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; MRI liver; MRI methods; Chemical shift imaging
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378603X14001090

Intracellular fat accumulation is a common feature of liver disease. Steatosis is the histological hallmark of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) but also may occur with alcohol abuse, viral hepatitis, HIV and genetic lipodystrophies, and chemotherapy. This condition is common in the Western population and is typically associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Early diagnosis and early treatment of NAFLD are important to prevent the development of end-stage liver disease and cancer. In addition, liver fat is a risk factor for postoperative complications after liver resection and transplantation. MRI has become a primary modality to assess hepatic steatosis, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In this article we discuss various MRI methods for evaluation of hepatic steatosis.