Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Oct 28, 2023; 15(10): 293-303
Published online Oct 28, 2023. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v15.i10.293
Two-point Dixon and six-point Dixon magnetic resonance techniques in the detection, quantification and grading of hepatic steatosis
Mohamed Elfaal, Alanna Supersad, Craig Ferguson, Stephanie Locas, Florin Manolea, Mitchell P Wilson, Medica Sam, Wendy Tu, Gavin Low
Mohamed Elfaal, Alanna Supersad, Craig Ferguson, Stephanie Locas, Florin Manolea, Mitchell P Wilson, Medica Sam, Wendy Tu, Gavin Low, Department of Radiology & Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G2B7, Alberta, Canada
Author contributions: Elfaal M, Supersad A, Ferguson C, Locas S, Manolea F, Wilson MP, Sam M, Tu W, and Low G contributed to data collection, data analysis, editing the manuscript; and all authors approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Alberta, Canada and the Institutional Review Board of Alberta Health Services and Northern Alberta Clinical Trials and Research Centre.
Informed consent statement: The Ethics Committee of the University of Alberta, Canada, waived the requirement for signed informed consent for this retrospective study for which anonymous clinical data was used.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Gavin Low, MBChB, MPhil, MRCS, FRCR, Professor, Department of Radiology & Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta, WMC 2B2.41 8440-112 ST, Edmonton T6G2B7, Alberta, Canada. gavinlow@mic.ca
Received: September 6, 2023
Peer-review started: September 6, 2023
First decision: September 19, 2023
Revised: September 20, 2023
Accepted: September 28, 2023
Article in press: September 28, 2023
Published online: October 28, 2023
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Hepatic steatosis is a global healthcare concern.

Research motivation

There is a clinical need to determine how good existing magnetic resonance (MR) techniques are in evaluating hepatic steatosis.

Research objectives

The primary objective was to test the diagnostic performance of two- and six-point Dixon MR techniques in evaluating hepatic steatosis.

Research methods

A retrospective single center study was performed in patients with suspected diffuse parenchymal liver disease. All patients underwent MR imaging assessment with two-point Dixon, six-point Dixon and MR spectroscopy. Findings on two-point Dixon and six-point Dixon were compared against the reference standard, MR spectroscopy.

Research results

We found an excellent correlation (≥ 0.95) between fat fraction estimates on two- and six-point Dixon when compared against magnetic resonance spectroscopy (P < 0.001).

Research conclusions

Two- and six-point Dixon are useful MR techniques for evaluating patients with hepatic steatosis.

Research perspectives

MR techniques can provide accurate non-invasive assessment of hepatic steatosis.