Quantitative measurement of iodine concentration in the liver using dual-energy CT in patients with oral amiodarone：a feasibility study / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the feasibility of dual-energy CT (DECT) in the evaluation of liver iodine concentration in patients on long-term oral amiodarone treatment (≥12 months).Methods:Eighteen subjects undergoing abdominal dual-energy CT who met the criterion in January 2017 were collected as a control group. Twenty-seven patients who received oral amiodarone treatment for more than 12 months from January 2017 to May 2019 were enrolled as an experimental group. The difference of CT value and iodine concentration of liver, pancreas and spleen in 140 kV, 100 kV and VNC images between experimental and control groups were measured and analyzed. The correlation between liver CT value and liver iodine concentration was analyzed by Spearman correlation.Results:The concentrations of iodine in the liver, pancreas and spleen of the experimental group were 0.2 (0.2, 0.4), 0.1 (0.1, 0.2) and 0.2 (0.1, 0.2) mg/ml, and those in the control group were 0.2 (0.1， 0.2), 0.1 (0.1, 0.2) and 0.1 (0.1, 0.2) mg/ml. The difference in the concentration of iodine of the liver was statistically significant ( Z=-3.354, P<0.05), however there was no significant difference in the concentration of pancreas and spleen between the two groups ( Z=-0.179 and -1.590, P>0.05). The CT values of 100 kV, 140 kV, VNC images in the experimental group [(74±18)， (70±10) and (71±5) HU] were higher than those in the control group [(60±6)， (59±6) and (62±6) HU], and the differences were statistically significant ( t=3.310, 4.205 and 5.241, P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between the CT value of 140 kV image and iodine concentration ( r=0.410, P<0.05). In the experimental group, the time difference of taking amiodarone was statistically significant ( P<0.05). Conclusions:DECT can be used to quantitatively measure the liver iodine concentration of patients with long-term oral amiodarone, and provides some biological indicators for the assessment of amiodarone induced liver injury.