Liver MR relaxometry at 3T – segmental normal T(1) and T(2)* values in patients without focal or diffuse liver disease and in patients with increased liver fat and elevated liver stiffness

Magnetic resonance (MR) T(1) and T(2)* mapping allows quantification of liver relaxation times for non-invasive characterization of diffuse liver disease. We hypothesized that liver relaxation times are not only influenced by liver fibrosis, inflammation and fat, but also by air in liver segments adjacent to the lung – especially in MR imaging at 3T. A total of 161 study participants were recruited, while 6 patients had to be excluded due to claustrophobia or technically uninterpretable MR elastography. Resulting study population consisted of 12 healthy volunteers and 143 patients who prospectively underwent multiparametric MR imaging at 3T. Of those 143 patients, 79 had normal liver stiffness in MR elastography (shear modulus <2.8 kPa, indicating absence of fibrosis) and normal proton density fat fraction (PDFF < 10%, indicating absence of steatosis), defined as reference population. T(1) relaxation times in these patients were significantly shorter in liver segments adjacent to the lung than in those not adjacent to the lung (p < 0.001, mean of differences 33 ms). In liver segments not adjacent to the lung, T(1) allowed to differentiate significantly between the reference population and patients with steatosis and/or fibrosis (p ≤ 0.011), while there was no significant difference of T(1) between the reference population and healthy volunteers. In conclusion, we propose to measure T(1) relaxation times in liver segments not adjacent to the lung. Otherwise, we recommend taking into account slightly shorter T(1) values in liver segments adjacent to the lung.