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Association Between Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Proton Density Fat Fraction and Liver Histology Features in Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND & AIMS:Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) often require histologic assessment via liver biopsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based methods for measuring liver triglycerides based on proton density fat fraction (PDFF) are increasingly used as a noninvasive tool to identify patients with hepatic steatosis and to assess for change in liver fat over time. We aimed to determine whether MRI-PDFF accurately reflects a variety of liver histology features in patients with NAFLD or NASH. METHODS:We performed a retrospective analysis of pooled data from 3 phase 2a trials of pharmacotherapies for NAFLD or NASH. We collected baseline clinical, laboratory, and histopathology data on all subjects who had undergone MRI analysis in 1 of the trials. We assessed the relationship between liver PDFF values and liver histologic findings using correlation and area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) analyses. As an ancillary analysis, we also simulated a clinical trial selection process and calculated subject exclusion rates and differences in population characteristics caused by PDFF inclusion thresholds of 6% to 15%. RESULTS:In 370 subjects, the mean baseline PDFF was 17.4% ± 8.6%. Baseline PDFF values correlated with several histopathology parameters, including steatosis grade (r = 0.78; P < .001), NAFLD activity score (NAS, r = 0.54; P < .001), and fibrosis stage (r = -0.59; P < .001). However, PDFF did not accurately identify patients with NAS ? 4 (AUROC = 0.72) or fibrosis stage ?3 (AUROC = 0.66). In a theoretical trial of these subjects, exclusion rates increased as PDFF minimum threshold level increased. There were no significant differences in cohort demographics when PDFF thresholds ranging from 6% to 15% were used, and differences in laboratory and histopathology data were small. CONCLUSIONS:In an analysis of patients with NAFLD or NASH, we determined that although The MRI-PDFF correlated with steatosis grade and NAS, and inversely with fibrosis stage, it was suboptimal in identification of patients with NAS >4 or advanced fibrosis. Although MRI-PDFF is an important imaging biomarker for continued evaluation of this patient population, liver biopsy analysis is still necessary.

SUBMITTER: Wildman-Tobriner B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6456892 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Association Between Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Proton Density Fat Fraction and Liver Histology Features in Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

Wildman-Tobriner Benjamin B Middleton Michael M MM Moylan Cynthia A CA Rossi Stephen S Flores Omar O Chang Zac Anchi ZA Abdelmalek Manal F MF Sirlin Claude B CB Bashir Mustafa R MR

Gastroenterology 20180719 5

<h4>Background & aims</h4>Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) often require histologic assessment via liver biopsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based methods for measuring liver triglycerides based on proton density fat fraction (PDFF) are increasingly used as a noninvasive tool to identify patients with hepatic steatosis and to assess for change in liver fat over time. We aimed to determine whether MRI-PDFF accurately reflects a var ...[more]

PMID: 30031769

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Project description:Background & aimsPathologists quantify liver steatosis as the fraction of lipid droplet-containing hepatocytes out of all hepatocytes, whereas the magnetic resonance-determined proton density fat fraction (PDFF) reflects the tissue triacylglycerol concentration. We investigated the linearity, agreement, and correspondence thresholds between histological steatosis and PDFF across the full clinical spectrum of liver fat content associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.MethodsUsing individual patient-level measurements, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing histological steatosis with PDFF determined by magnetic resonance spectroscopy or imaging in adults with suspected non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Linearity was assessed by meta-analysis of correlation coefficients and by linear mixed modelling of pooled data, agreement by Bland-Altman analysis, and thresholds by receiver operating characteristic analysis. To explain observed differences between the methods, we used RNA-seq to determine the fraction of hepatocytes in human liver biopsies.ResultsEligible studies numbered 9 (N = 597). The relationship between PDFF and histology was predominantly linear (r = 0.85 [95% CI, 0.80-0.89]), and their values approximately coincided at 5% steatosis. Above 5% and towards higher levels of steatosis, absolute values of the methods diverged markedly, with histology exceeding PDFF by up to 3.4-fold. On average, 100% histological steatosis corresponded to a PDFF of 33.0% (29.5-36.7%). Targeting at a specificity of 90%, optimal PDFF thresholds to predict histological steatosis grades were ≥5.75% for ≥S1, ≥15.50% for ≥S2, and ≥21.35% for S3. Hepatocytes comprised 58 ± 5% of liver cells, which may partly explain the lower values of PDFF vs. histology.ConclusionsHistological steatosis and PDFF have non-perfect linearity and fundamentally different scales of measurement. Liver fat values obtained using these methods may be rendered comparable by conversion equations or threshold values.Impact and implicationsMagnetic resonance-proton density fat fraction (PDFF) is increasingly being used to measure liver fat in place of the invasive liver biopsy. Understanding the relationship between PDFF and histological steatosis fraction is important for preventing misjudgement of clinical status or treatment effects in patient care. Our analysis revealed that histological steatosis fraction is often significantly higher than PDFF, and their association varies across the spectrum of fatty liver severity. These findings are particularly important for physicians and clinical researchers, who may use these data to interpret PDFF measurements in the context of histologically evaluated liver fat content.

Project description:ObjectiveTo investigate the diagnostic performance of quantitative ultrasound (US) parameters for the assessment of hepatic steatosis in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) using magnetic resonance imaging proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) as the reference standard.Materials and methodsIn this single-center prospective study, 120 patients with clinically suspected NAFLD were enrolled between March 2019 and January 2020. The participants underwent US examination for radiofrequency (RF) data acquisition and chemical shift-encoded liver MRI for PDFF measurement. Using the RF data analysis, the attenuation coefficient (AC) based on tissue attenuation imaging (TAI) (AC-TAI) and scatter-distribution coefficient (SC) based on tissue scatter-distribution imaging (TSI) (SC-TSI) were measured. The correlations between the quantitative US parameters (AC and SC) and MRI-PDFF were evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficients. The diagnostic performance of AC-TAI and SC-TSI for detecting hepatic fat contents of ≥ 5% (MRI-PDFF ≥ 5%) and ≥ 10% (MRI-PDFF ≥ 10%) were assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The significant clinical or imaging factors associated with AC and SC were analyzed using linear regression analysis.ResultsThe participants were classified based on MRI-PDFF: < 5% (n = 38), 5-10% (n = 23), and ≥ 10% (n = 59). AC-TAI and SC-TSI were significantly correlated with MRI-PDFF (r = 0.659 and 0.727, p < 0.001 for both). For detecting hepatic fat contents of ≥ 5% and ≥ 10%, the areas under the ROC curves of AC-TAI were 0.861 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.786-0.918) and 0.835 (95% CI: 0.757-0.897), and those of SC-TSI were 0.964 (95% CI: 0.913-0.989) and 0.935 (95% CI: 0.875-0.972), respectively. Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that MRI-PDFF was an independent determinant of AC-TAI and SC-TSI.ConclusionAC-TAI and SC-TSI derived from quantitative US RF data analysis yielded a good correlation with MRI-PDFF and provided good performance for detecting hepatic steatosis and assessing its severity in NAFLD.

Dataset Information

Association Between Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Proton Density Fat Fraction and Liver Histology Features in Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

Publications

Association Between Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Proton Density Fat Fraction and Liver Histology Features in Patients With Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease or Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis.

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