Topic Highlight
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 7, 2016; 22(1): 89-102
Published online Jan 7, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i1.89
Four-dimensional flow magnetic resonance imaging in cirrhosis
Zoran Stankovic
Zoran Stankovic, University Institute of Diagnostic, Interventional and Pediatric Radiology, Inselspital - University Hospital Bern, 3010 Bern, Switzerland
Author contributions: Stankovic Z analyzed the literature and wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author has no conflict of interest to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Zoran Stankovic, MD, University Institute of Diagnostic, Interventional and Pediatric Radiology, Inselspital - University Hospital Bern, Freiburgstrasse 10, 3010 Bern, Switzerland. zoran.stankovic@insel.ch
Telephone: +41-31-6322434 Fax: +41-31-6321915
Received: May 29, 2015
Peer-review started: June 3, 2015
First decision: July 14, 2015
Revised: August 8, 2015
Accepted: October 13, 2015
Article in press: October 13, 2015
Published online: January 7, 2016
Processing time: 216 Days and 8.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Liver cirrhosis is one of the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, Europe and Asia. Advanced stages of liver cirrhosis are accompanied by hemodynamic changes of the hepatic vascular system. Four-dimensional (4D) flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been validated for the clinical assessment of the liver blood flow in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis. It represents a method that supplements Doppler ultrasound and provides important additional information on the vessel system in difficult patients. The purpose of this review is to provide insights into 4D flow MRI for blood flow visualization and quantification in patients with advanced liver cirrhosis.