Quantitative analysis of hepatic fat fraction by single-breath-holding MR spectroscopy with T2 correction: phantom and clinical study with histologic assessment

The focus of this study was on the investigation of the accuracy of the fat fraction of the liver by use of single-breath-holding magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) with T2 correction. Single-voxel proton MRS was performed with several TE values, and the fat fraction was determined with and without T2 correction. MRS was also performed with use of the point-resolved spectroscopy sequence in single breath holding. The T2 values of both water and fat were determined separately at the same time, and the effect of T2 on the fat fraction was corrected. In addition, MRS-based fat fractions were compared with the degree of hepatic steatosis (HS) by liver biopsy in human subjects. With T2 correction, the MRI-derived fat fractions were in good agreement with the fat fractions in all phantoms, but the fat fractions were overestimated without T2 correction. R2 values were in good agreement with the preset iron concentrations in the phantoms. The MRI-derived fat fraction was well correlated with the degree of HS. Iron deposited in the liver affects the signal strength when proton MRS is used for detection of the fat signal in the liver. However, the fat signal can be evaluated more accurately when the T2 correction is applied. Breath-holding MRS minimizes the respiratory motion, and it can be more accurate in the quantification of the hepatic fat fraction.

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