Qualitative evaluation of chronic diffuse liver disease by STIR MRI.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of our study was to characterize the relationship between signal intensity on STIR MRI, histology, and liver function.


METHODS
MRI was performed in 39 patients with chronic liver diseases [chronic persistent hepatitis (CPH), chronic active hepatitis (CAH), liver cirrhosis (LC)] and 11 patients without liver dysfunction (normal).


RESULTS
On STIR images, very low signal intensities compared with those of the spleen were seen in all 11 normal livers (100%), and brighter intensities were seen in chronic diffuse liver diseases (10 patients with CPH, 11 patients with CAH, and 18 patients with LC) (100%). The higher the signal grade on STIR images (moderate, marked), the more advanced was the chronic diffuse liver disease (p < 0.02). The levels of serum glutamic-oxaloacetic and glutamic-pyruvic transaminase increased in parallel with increasing signal intensity on STIR images (both p < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
We found that the signal intensity of liver on STIR images appeared to be associated with the degree of histologic and/or clinical severity in patients with chronic liver disease.
Department of Radiology, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan.
M
M
Morijiri
H
H
Seto
Y
Y
Kamisaki
M
M
Shimizu
M
M
Kageyama
N
N
Watanabe
M
M
Kakishita
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged