Novel 3D Imaging Technique Provides New Tool for Detecting Advanced Liver Fibrosis

Researchers have found that a new innovative 3D Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) technique is a highly accurately, and less invasive method to diagnosis advanced liver fibrosis, instead of liver biopsies used today.

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease occurs when large droplets of fat are deposited in the liver (hepatic steatosis), and can progress to liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and cancer. NAFLD is widespread around the globe, and affects 33% or more of the general population in the US, and 50% of obese people.

The research was carried out at the UC San Diego School of Medicine NAFLD Research Center (San Diego, CA, USA) and published in the March 22, 2016, issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology. The researchers conducted a prospective study that included 100 patients, 56% of them women, that had proven NAFLD. The researchers then assessed the effectiveness of 2D, and the new 3D MRE method. MRE is an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique that propagates mechanical shear waves in liver tissue. Tissue stiffness, an indicator of fibrosis, is measured quantitatively using an algorithm in MRE images.

Rohit Loomba, MD, director of the NAFLD Research Center, and first author of the study, said, “3D MRE is probably the most accurate noninvasive method to detect advanced fibrosis. The prospective study is the first to evaluate 3D-MRE for diagnosing advanced fibrosis in NAFLD patients. Both 2D and 3D were highly accurate. These findings suggest that MRE could be used to enroll patients with advanced fibrosis into screening programs for cirrhosis as well as enrollment into clinical trials aimed at reversing fibrosis in the setting of advanced fibrosis.”

Related Links:
UCSD School of Medicine NAFLD Research Center