Value of abdominal susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for quantitative assessment of hepatic iron deposition in patients with chronic hepatitis B: comparison with serum iron markers.
OBJECTIVE
To assess hepatic iron deposition quantitatively in patients with chronic hepatitis B (HBV) infection, using abdominal susceptibility-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (SWI).


METHODS
Patients with HBV infection and healthy controls underwent abdominal SWI and were assessed  for serum iron markers. Phase values were measured and five grades of hepatic iron deposition were described by SWI.


RESULTS
Patients with HBV infection (n = 327) and healthy controls (n = 50) were prospectively enrolled. In total, 77 (25.4%) patients with HBV infection had  hepatic iron deposition as determined by SWI. Phase values were significantly different between patients with hepatic iron deposition compared with patients without hepatic iron deposition or controls, and were significantly different across different grades of hepatic iron deposition. Serum  iron, ferritin, transferrin and transferrin saturation were significantly higher in patients with, versus those without, hepatic iron deposition. Only serum ferritin was significantly different across different grades of hepatic iron deposition, and there was a low inverse correlation between  serum ferritin and phase values.


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with serum iron markers, abdominal SWI may represent a powerful tool to assess hepatic iron deposition quantitatively in patients with chronic HBV infection.
Department of Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
W
W
Lv
F
F
Yan
M
M
Zeng
J
J
Zhang
Y
Y
Yuan
J
J
Ma
D000005:Abdomen / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D015415:Biomarkers; D007501:Iron