Abstract
This study investigated a combined use of IVIM parameters Dslow, PF and Dfast for live fibrosis evaluation. 16 healthy volunteers and 33 hepatitis-b patients (stage F1=15, stage F2-4=18) were included. With a 1.5-T MR scanner and respiration-trigger, the IVIM diffusion weighted imaging was acquired with a single-shot echo-planar imaging sequence with ten b-values of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 150, 200, 400, and 800 sec/mm2. Signal measurement was performed on right liver. With a 3-D tool, Dslow, PF, and Dfast were placed along the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, and a plane was defined to separate healthy volunteers from patients. It was also close to able to differentiate healthy volunteers and all patients with liver fibrosis (F1-4), while healthy volunteers and patients with significant liver fibrosis (F2-4) could be reliably differentiated. Classification and Regression Tree shows a combination of PF (PF<12.55%), Dslow (Dslow<1.152 ×10−3 mm2/s) and Dfast (Dfast<13.36 ×10−3 mm2/s) can differentiate healthy subjects and all fibrotic livers (F1-F4) with an area under the curve of logistic regression (AUC) of 0.986. The AUC for differentiation of F0 vs. F2-4 was 1. PF offers best diagnostic value, followed by Dslow, however all three parameters contribute to liver fibrosis detection.