Evaluation of Rabbits Liver Fibrosis Using Gd-DTPA-BMA of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the different pharmacokinetic parameters of the DCE-MRI method on diagnosing and staging of rabbits' liver fibrosis. METHODS: We had performed DCE-MRI for rabbits that had been divided into the experiment group and the control group. Then, rabbits' images were transferred to a work station to get three parameters such as K(trans), K(ep), and V(e), which had been measured to calculate. After data were analyzed, ROC analyses were performed to assess the diagnostic performance of K(trans), K(ep), and V(e) to judge liver fibrosis. RESULTS: The distribution of the different liver fibrosis group was as follows: F1, n = 8; F2, n = 9; F3, n = 6; F4, n = 5. No fibrosis was deemed as F0, n = 6. K(ep) is statistically significant (P < 0.05) for F0 and mild liver fibrosis stage, and the K(ep) shows AUC of 0.814. Three parameters are statistically significant for F0 and advanced liver fibrosis stage (K(trans) and K(ep), P < 0.01; V(e), P < 0.05), and the K(trans) shows AUC of 0.924; the K(ep) shows AUC of 0.909; the V(e) shows AUC of 0.848; K(trans) and K(ep) are statistically significant for mild and advanced liver fibrosis stages (K(trans), P < 0.01; K(ep), P < 0.05), and the K(trans) shows AUC of 0.840; the K(ep) shows AUC of 0.765. Both K(trans) and K(ep) are negatively correlated with the liver fibrosis stage. V(e) is positively correlated with the liver fibrosis stage. CONCLUSION: K(trans) is shown to be the best DCE parameter to distinguish the fibrotic liver from the normal liver and mild and advanced fibrosis. On the contrary, K(ep) is moderate and V(e) is worst. And K(ep) is a good DCE parameter to differentiate mild fibrosis from the normal liver.