Modern Possibilities of Liver Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Images in the Diagnosis of Alcoholic Liver Disease

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the current possibilities of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the diagnosis of alcoholic liver disease (ALD).Material and methods. The examined patients were at the inpatient and outpatient stages of observation in the gastroenterology department on the basis of the Clinical Hospital No. 1 (Smolensk) and received treatment for diffuse liver diseases of alcoholic etiology. The study included 128 patients: 76 (59%) males and 52 (41%) females, mean age 42.3 ± 4.7 years. Patients were monitored from 2019 to 2022. All of them underwent abdominal organs ultrasound with liver clinical elastography and liver MRI with DWI; in 34 cases liver multi-slice computed tomography was performed.Results. When comparing the results of a qualitative assessment of liver DWI MRI with the CAGE (Cut, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye-opener) test data and the results of patients and relatives survey about the use of alcoholic beverages, a high correlation was established between the diffusion restriction in the liver during MRI and impaired withdrawal regimen (r = 0.901). The diagnostic and prognostic significance of the developed criteria for liver DWI MRI in patients with ALD at admission was assessed: for qualitative assessment AUROC 0.827 (95% CI 0.792–0.873), for quantitative assessment AUROC 0.949 (95% CI 0.912–0.981); in dynamic observation: for qualitative assessment AUROC 0.958 (95% CI 0.925–0.984), for quantitative assessment AUROC 0.947 (95% CI 0.947–0.981).Conclusion. The obtained quantitative indicators of liver DWI MRI make it possible to predict the clinical form of ALD: apparent diffusion coefficient for steatosis is 2.66 ± 0.9 × 10–3 mm2/s, for steatohepatitis – 2.14 ± 0.5 × 10–3 mm2/s, for hepatitis – 1.75 ± 0.6 × 10–3 mm2/s, for cirrhosis – 1.15 ± 0.6 × 10–3 mm2/s (AUROC 0.948; 95% CI 0.922–0.983). Qualitative parameters of liver DWI MRI (there is/is not a diffusion restriction) predict violations of the withdrawal regimen in patients with ALD in all its clinical forms (AUROC 0.931; 95% CI 0.822–0.979).

Keywords

• magnetic resonance imaging
• diffusion-weighted images
• alcoholic liver disease