Perfusion of hepatocellular carcinomas measured by diffusion-derived vessel density biomarker: Higher hepatocellular carcinoma perfusion than earlier intravoxel incoherent motion reports.

Diffusion-derived vessel density (DVDD) is a physiological surrogate of the area of microvessels per unit tissue area. DDVD is calculated according to DDVD(b0b2) = Sb0/ROIarea0 - Sb2/ROIarea2, where Sb0 and Sb2 refer to the liver signal when b is 0 or 2 s/mm2. Pathohistological studies and contrast-enhanced CT/MRI data showed higher blood volume in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) relative to native liver tissue. With intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging, most authors paradoxically reported a decreased perfusion fraction of HCC relative to the adjacent liver. This study applied DDVD to assess the perfusion of HCC. MRI was performed with a 3.0-T magnet. Diffusion-weighted images with b-values of 0 and 2 s/mm2 were acquired in 72 HCC patients. Thirty-two patients had microvascular invasion (MVI(+)) and 40 patients did not have microvascular invasion (MVI(-)). Fifty-eight patients had Edmondson-Steiner grade I or II HCC, and 14 patients had Edmondson-Steiner grade III or IV HCC. DDVD measurement was conducted on the axial slice that showed the largest HCC size. DDVD(b0b2) T/L = HCC DDVD(b0b2)/liver DDVD(b0b2). DDVD(b0b2) T/L median (95% confidence interval) of all HCCs was 2.942 (2.419-3.522), of MVI(-) HCCs was 2.699 (2.030-3.522), of MVI(+) HCCs was 2.988 (2.423-3.990), of Edmondson-Steiner grade I/II HCCs was 2.873 (2.277-3.465), and of Edmondson-Steiner grade III/IV HCCs was 3.403 (2.008-4.485). DDVD(b0b2) T/L approximately agrees with contrast agent dynamically enhanced CT/MRI literature data, whereas it differs from earlier IVIM study results, where HCC perfusion fraction was paradoxically lower relative to native liver tissue. A weak trend was noted with MIV(+) HCCs had a higher DDVD(b0b2) T/L than that of MVI(-) HCCs, and a weak trend was noted with the poorly differentiated group of HCCs (Edmondson-Steiner grade III and IV) had a higher DDVD(b0b2) T/L than that of the better differentiated group of HCCs (Edmondson-Steiner grade I and II).

Repeatability and reproducibility comparisons of liver IVIM imaging with free-breathing or respiratory-triggered sequences.

For liver intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) data acquisition, respiratory-triggering (RT) MRI is commonly used, and there are strong motivations to shorten the scan duration. For the same scan duration, more b values or higher numbers of excitations can be allowed for free-breathing (FB) imaging than for RT. We studied whether FB can be used to replace RT when careful IVIM image acquisition and image processing are conducted. MRI data of 22 healthy participants were acquired using a 3.0 T scanner. Diffusion imaging was based on a single-shot spin-echo-type echo-planar sequence and 16 b values of 0, 2, 4, 7, 10, 15, 20, 30, 46, 60, 72, 100, 150, 200, 400, and 600 s/mm2 . Each subject attended two scan sessions with an interval of 10-20 days. For each scan session, a subject was scanned twice, first with RT and then with FB. The mean image acquisition time was 5.4 min for FB and 10.8 min for RT. IVIM parameters were calculated with bi-exponential model segmented fitting with a threshold b value of 60 s/mm2 , and fitting started from b = 2 s/mm2 . There was no statistically significant difference between IVIM parameters measured with FB imaging or RT imaging. Perfusion fraction ICC (intraclass correlation coefficient) for FB imaging and RT imaging in the same scan session was 0.824. For perfusion fraction, wSD (within-subject standard deviation), BA (Bland-Altman) difference, BA 95% limit, and ICC were 0.022, 0.0001, -0.0635~0.0637, and 0.687 for FB and 0.031, 0.0122, -0.0723~0.0967, and 0.611 for RT. For Dslow (×10-3  s/mm2 ), wSD, BA difference, BA 95% limit, and ICC were 0.057, 0.0268, -0.1258~0.1793, and 0.471 for FB and 0.073, -0.0078, -0.2170-0.2014, and <0.4 for RT. The Dfast coefficient of variation was 0.20 for FB imaging and 0.28 for RT imaging. All reproducibility indicators slightly favored FB imaging.

Radiographic Diagnosis of Osteoporotic Vertebral Fracture in Older Women and Men Based on Statistical Probability.

A radiographic gold standard to distinguish osteoporotic vertebral fractures (VFs) from nonosteoporotic VFs does not exist. Radiographic fracture-shaped vertebral deformity (FSVD) is common among young populations with normal bone strength. FSVD in an older population is called osteoporotic-like vertebral fracture (OLVF) when the FSVD is likely associated with compromised bone strength. For more severe grade deformities or when a vertebra is collapsed, experienced readers can make an osteoporotic VF diagnosis with a high degree of certainty. In milder cases, radiographic osteoporotic VF is often diagnosed based on a high probability rather than an absolute diagnosis. For older women, three nonadjacent minimal grade OLVFs (< 20% height loss), one minimal grade OLVF and one mild OLVF (≥ 20∼25% height loss), or one OLVF with ≥ 25% height loss meets the diagnosis of osteoporosis. For older men, a single OLVF with ≥ 33 to 40% height loss is insufficient to suggest the patient has osteoporosis.

Quantitative CT lumbar spine BMD cutpoint value for classifying osteoporosis among older Chinese men can be the same as that of older Chinese women, both much lower than the value for Caucasians.

For older Caucasian women and men, the QCT (quantitative CT) lumbar spine (LS) bone mineral density (BMD) threshold for classifying osteoporosis is 80 mg/ml. It was recently proposed that, for older East Asian women, the QCT LS BMD value equivalent to the Caucasian women's threshold of 80 mg/mL is about 45∼50 mg/ml. For a data of 328 cases of Chinese men (age: 73.6 ± 4.4 years) who had QCT LS BMD and DXA LS BMD at the same time and with the DXA BMD value of ≤ 0.613 g/cm2 to classify osteoporosis, the corresponding QCT LS BMD threshold is 53 mg/ml. Osteoporotic-like vertebral fracture sum score (OLVFss) ≤ -2.5 has been proposed to diagnose osteoporosis. For 316 cases of Chinese men (age:73.7±4.5 years), OLVFss ≤ -2.5 defines an osteoporosis prevalence of 4.4%; to achieve this osteoporosis prevalence, the corresponding QCT LS BMD value is < 47.5 mg/ml. In the China Action on Spine and Hip Status study, a Genant grades 2/3 radiographic 'osteoporotic vertebral fracture' prevalence was 2.84% for Chinese men (total n = 1267, age: 62.77 ± 9.20 years); to achieve this osteoporosis prevalence, the corresponding BMD value was < 42.5 mg/ml. In a study of 357 Beijing older men, according to the clinical fragility fracture prevalence and femoral neck DXA T-score, the QCT LS BMD value to classify osteoporosis was between 39.45 mg/ml and 51.38 mg/ml. For older Chinese men (≥ 50 years), we recommend the cutpoint for the QCT LS BMD definition of osteoporosis to be 45∼50 mg/ml which is the same as the value for Chinese women.

Much lower prevalence and severity of spine degenerative changes among older Chinese women than among older Caucasian women and its implication for the interpretation of lumbar spine BMD T-score for Chinese women.

The prevalence and severity of spine degenerative changes have been noted to be lower among older Chinese women than among older Caucasian women. Spine degenerative changes associated with marginal osteophytosis, trabecular thickening, subchondral sclerosis, facet joint arthrosis, and disc space narrowing can all lead to artificially higher spine areal bone mineral density (BMD). The lower prevalence and severity of spine degeneration have important implications for the interpretation of spine areal BMD reading for Chinese women. With fewer contributions from spine degenerative changes, following natural aging, the declines of population group means of spine BMD and T-score are faster for Chinese women than for Caucasian women. While a cutpoint T-score ≤ -2.5 for defining spine densitometric osteoporosis is recommended for Caucasian women, for Chinese women the same cutpoint T-score of ≤ -2.5 inflates the estimated osteoporosis prevalence based on spine BMD measure. In addition to the use of an ethnicity-specific BMD reference database, a stricter cutpoint T-score for defining spine densitometric osteoporosis among older Chinese women should be applied.

Quantitative CT lumbar spine BMD cutpoint value for classifying osteoporosis among older East Asian women should be lower than the value for Caucasians.

For Caucasian women, the QCT (quantitative CT) lumbar spine (LS) bone mineral density (BMD) cutpoint value for classifying osteoporosis is 80 mg/ml. At the age of approximate 78 years, US Caucasian women QCT LS BMD population mean is 80 mg/ml, while that of Chinese women and Japanese women is around 50 mg/ml. Correlation analyses show, for Chinese women and Japanese women, QCT LS BMD of 45 mg/ml corresponds to the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry cutpoint value for classifying osteoporosis. For Chinese and Japanese women, if QCT LS BMD 80 mg/ml is used as the threshold to classify osteoporosis, then the specificity of classifying subjects with vertebral fragility fracture into the osteoporotic group is low, whereas threshold of 45 mg/ml approximately achieve a similar separation for women with and without vertebral fragility fracture as the reports for Caucasian women. Moreover, by using 80mg/ml as the cutpoint value, LS QCT leads to excessively high prevalence of osteoporosis for Chinese women, with the discordance between hip dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and LS QCT measures far exceeding expectation. Considering the different bone properties and the much lower prevalence of fragility fractures in the East Asian women compared with Caucasians, we argue that the QCT cutpoint value for classifying osteoporosis among older East Asian women will be close to and no more than 50 mg/ml LS BMD. We suggest that it is also imperative the QCT osteoporosis classification criterion for East Asian male LS, and male and female hips be re-examined.

East Asians' T-scores for the diagnosis of osteoporosis should be calculated using ethnicity- and gender-specific BMD reference ranges: justifications.

The 2013 ISCD consensus recommended a Caucasian female reference database for T-score calculation in men, which says "A uniform Caucasian (non-race adjusted) female reference database should be used to calculate T-scores for men of all ethnic groups." However, this statement was recommended for the US population, and no position was taken with respect to BMD reference data or ethnicity matching outside of the USA. In East Asia, currently, a Japanese BMD reference database is universally adopted in Japan for clinical DXA diagnosis, while both local BMD and Caucasian BMD reference databases are in use in Mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. In this article, we argue that an ethnicity- and gender-specific BMD database should be used for T-score calculations for East Asians, and we list the justifications why we advocate so. Use of a Caucasian BMD reference database leads to systematically lower T-scores for East Asians and an overestimation of the prevalence of osteoporosis. Using a female BMD reference database to calculate T-scores for male patients leads to higher T-score values and an underestimation of the prevalence of osteoporosis. Epidemiological evidence does not support using a female BMD reference database to calculate T-scores for men. We also note that BMD reference databases collected in Asia should be critically evaluated for their quality.

Revision of the 1994 World Health Organization T-score definition of osteoporosis for use in older East Asian women and men to reconcile it with their lifetime risk of fragility fracture.

The 1994 WHO criterion of a T-score ≤ -2.5 for densitometric osteoporosis was chosen because it results in a prevalence commensurate with the observed lifetime risk of fragility fractures in Caucasian women aged ≥ 50 years. Due to the much lower risk of fragility fracture among East Asians, the application of the conventional WHO criterion to East Asians leads to an over inflated prevalence of osteoporosis, particularly for spine osteoporosis. According to statistical modeling and when a local BMD reference is used, we tentatively recommend the cutpoint values for T-score of femoral neck, total hip, and spine to be approximately -2.7, -2.6, and -3.7 for Hong Kong Chinese women. Using radiographic osteoporotic vertebral fracture as a surrogate clinical endpoint, we empirically demonstrated that a femoral neck T-score of -2.77 for Chinese women was equivalent to -2.60 for Italian women, a spine T-score of -3.75 for Chinese women was equivalent to -2.44 for Italian women, and for Chinese men a femoral neck T-score of -2.77 corresponded to spine T-score of -3.37. For older Chinese men, we tentatively recommend the cutpoint values for T-score of femoral neck, total hip, and spine to be approximately -2.7, -2.6, and -3.2. With the BMD reference published by IKi et al. applied, T-score of femoral neck, total hip, and spine of -2.75, -3.0, and -3.9 for Japanese women will be more in line with the WHO osteoporosis definition. The revised definition of osteoporosis cutpoint T-scores for East Asians will allow a more meaningful international comparison of disease burden.

Radiological diagnosis of prevalent osteoporotic vertebral fracture on radiographs: an interim consensus from a group of experts of the ESSR osteoporosis and metabolism subcommittee.

When a low-energy trauma induces an acute vertebral fracture (VF) with clinical symptoms, a definitive diagnosis of osteoporotic vertebral fracture (OVF) can be made. Beyond that, a "gold" radiographic standard to distinguish osteoporotic from non-osteoporotic VFs does not exist. Fracture-shaped vertebral deformity (FSVD) is defined as a deformity radiographically indistinguishable from vertebral fracture according to the best of the reading radiologist's knowledge. FSVD is not uncommon among young populations with normal bone strength. FSVD among an older population is called osteoporotic-like vertebral fracture (OLVF) when the FSVD is likely to be associated with compromised bone strength. In more severe grade deformities or when a vertebra is collapsed, OVF diagnosis can be made with a relatively high degree of certainty by experienced readers. In "milder" cases, OVF is often diagnosed based on a high probability rather than an absolute diagnosis. After excluding known mimickers, singular vertebral wedging in older women is statistically most likely an OLVF. For older women, three non-adjacent minimal grade OLVF (< 20% height loss), one minimal grade OLVF and one mild OLVF (20-25% height loss), or one OLVF with ≥ 25% height loss, meet the diagnosis of osteoporosis. For older men, a single OLVF with < 40% height loss may be insufficient to suggest the subject is osteoporotic. Common OLVF differential diagnoses include X-ray projection artifacts and scoliosis, acquired and developmental short vertebrae, osteoarthritic wedging, oncological deformities, deformity due to high-energy trauma VF, lateral hyperosteogeny of a vertebral body, Cupid's bow, and expansive endplate, among others.

The observation that older men suffer from hip fracture at DXA T-scores higher than older women and a proposal of a new low BMD category, osteofrailia, for predicting fracture risk in older men.

The clinical significance of osteoporosis lies in the occurrence of fragility fractures (FFx), and the most relevant fracture site is the hip. The T-score is defined as follows: (BMDpatient-BMDyoung adult mean)/SDyoung adult population, where BMD is bone mineral density and SD is the standard deviation. When the femoral neck (FN) is measured in adult Caucasian women, a cutpoint value of patient BMD of 2.5 SD below the young adult mean BMD results in a prevalence the same as the lifetime risk of hip FFx for Caucasian women. The FN T-score criterion for classifying osteoporosis in older Caucasian men has been provisionally recommended to be - 2.5, but debates remain. Based on a systematic literature review, we noted that older men suffer from hip FFx at a FN T-score approximately 0.5-0.6 higher than older women. While the mean hip FFx FN T-score of around - 2.9 for women lies below - 2.5, the mean hip FF FN T-score of around - 2.33 for men lies above - 2.5. This is likely associated with that older male populations have a higher mean T-score than older female populations. We propose a new category of low BMD status, osteofrailia, for older Caucasian men with T-score ≤ - 2 (T-score ≤ - 2.1 for older Chinese men) who are likely to suffer from hip FFx. The group with T-score ≤ - 2 for older Caucasian men is comparable in prevalence to the group with T-score ≤ - 2.5 for older Caucasian women. However, older men in such category on average have only half the FFx risk as that of older women with osteoporotic T-score.

Age and gender dependence of liver diffusion parameters and the possibility that intravoxel incoherent motion modeling of the perfusion component is constrained by the diffusion component.

The aim of this study was to establish reference values for middle-aged subjects and to investigate the age and gender dependence of liver diffusion MRI parameters. The IVIM type of liver diffusion scan was based on a single-shot spin-echo-type echo-planar sequence using a 1.5 T magnet with 16 b-values. Diffusion-derived vessel density (DDVD)(b0b2) or DDVD(b0b10) was the signal difference between b = 0 and b = 2 (or b = 10) s/mm2 images after removing visible vessels. IVIM analysis was performed with full fitting and segmented fitting, and with a threshold b-value of 60 or 200 s/mm2 , and fitting started from b = 2 s/mm2 . Thirty-one men (age range: 25-71 years) and 26 men (age: 22-69 years) had DDVD and IVIM analysis, respectively, while 37 women (age: 20-71 years) and 36 women (age: 20-71 years) had DDVD and IVIM analysis, respectively. DDVD results showed a significant age-related reduction for women. IVIM results for full fitting showed excellent agreement with those for segmented fitting using a threshold b of 60 s/mm2 , but this was less good for results with a threshold b of 200 s/mm2 . As age increased, female subjects' Dslow measure showed a significant reduction, while their PF and Dfast measures showed a significant increase. For the age group of 40-55 years, DDVD(b0b2), DDVD(b0b10), Dslow , PF and Dfast were 12.26 ± 3.90 au/pixel, 16.95 ± 5.45 au/pixel, 1.072 ± 0.067 (10-3 mm2 /s), 0.141 ± 0.025 and 61.0 ± 14.0 (10-3 mm2 /s) for men, and 13.35 ± 3.6 au/pixel, 17.20 ± 3.62 au/pixel, 1.069 ± 0.074 (10-3 mm2 /s), 0.119 ± 0.014 and 57.1 ± 13.2 (10-3 mm2 /s) for women, respectively. DDVD measure of this study suggest that aging is associated with a reduction in liver perfusion. There is a possibility that a lower Dslow measure is associated with artificially higher PF and Dfast measures, and that IVIM modeling of the perfusion component is constrained by the diffusion component.

Comparison of tri-exponential decay versus bi-exponential decay and full fitting versus segmented fitting for modeling liver intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion MRI.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether bi- or tri-exponential models, and full or segmented fittings, better fit the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging signal of healthy livers. METHODS: Diffusion-weighted images were acquired with a 3 T scanner using a respiratory-triggered echo-planar sequence and 16 b-values (0-800 s/mm2 ). Eighteen healthy volunteers had their livers scanned twice in the same session, and then once in another session. Liver parenchyma region-of-interest-based measurements were processed with bi-exponential and tri-exponential models, with both full fitting and segmented fitting (threshold b-value = 200 s/mm2 ). RESULTS: With the signal of all scans averaged, bi-exponential model full fitting showed Dslow  = 1.14 × 10-3  mm2 /s, Dfast  = 193.6 × 10-3  mm2 /s, and perfusion fraction (PF) = 16.9%, and segmented fitting showed Dslow  = 0.98 × 10-3  mm2 /s, Dfast  = 42.2 × 10-3  mm2 /s, and PF = 23.3%. IVIM parameters derived from the tri-exponential model were similar for full fitting and segmented fitting, with slow (D'slow  = 0.98 × 10-3  mm2 /s; F'slow  = 76.4 or 76.6%), fast (D'fast  = 15.1 or 15.4 × 10-3  mm2 /s; F'fast  = 11.8 or 11.7%) and very fast (D'Vfast  = 445.0 or 448.8 × 10-3  mm2 /s; F'Vfast  = 11.8 or 11.7%) diffusion compartments. The tri-exponential model provided an overall better fit than the bi-exponential model. For the bi-exponential model, full fitting provided a better fit at very low and low b-values compared with segmented fitting, with the latter tending to underestimate Dfast ; however, the segmented method demonstrated lower error in signal prediction for high b-values. Compared with full fitting, tri-exponential segmented fitting offered better scan-rescan reproducibility. CONCLUSION: For healthy liver, tri-exponential modeling is preferred to bi-exponential modeling. For the bi-exponential model, segmented fitting underestimates Dfast , but offers a more accurate estimation of Dslow .

Osteoporotic Vertebral Fracture Prevalence in Elderly Chinese Men and Women: A Comparison of Endplate/Cortex Fracture-Based and Morphometrical Deformity-Based Methods.

This study aims to evaluate endplate/cortex fracture (ECF)-based method for detecting osteoporotic vertebral fracture (VF) in elderly Chinese population (age ≥ 65 years). The radiographs of 1954 elderly Chinese men (mean: 72.3 years) and 1953 elderly Chinese women (mean: 72.5 years) were evaluated according to Genant's morphometrical vertebral deformity (VD) severity criteria, as well as identified VF according to ECF without necessary requirement of VD. According to ECF, grade-1, -2, and -3 VF prevalence was 1.89%, 1.74%, and 2.25% in men, and 3.33%, 3.07%, and 5.89% in women, respectively. In men and women, 15.7% (35 of 223) and 34.5% (48 of 139) of vertebrae with VD grade-1 deformity were ECF(+, with fracture), respectively. In men and women, 89.7% (35 of 39) and 66.7% (48 of 72) of vertebrae with ECF grade-1 fracture had VD grade-1 deformity. For grade-1 change, ECF(+) subjects tended to have a lower BMD than the VD(+) subjects. In subjects with VD grade-2 deformity, those who were also EC (+) tended to have a lower BMD than those were ECF(-). In all grades, VD(-) and ECF(-) subjects tended to have highest BMD, whereas VD(+) and ECF(+) subjects tended to have lowest BMD. ECF may be more specific for assessing mild VF than the criteria based on vertebral deformity.

Dependence of intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion MR threshold b-value selection for separating perfusion and diffusion compartments and liver fibrosis diagnostic performance.

BACKGROUND: Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) tissue parameters depend on the threshold b-value. PURPOSE: To explore how threshold b-value impacts PF ( f), Dslow ( D), and Dfast ( D*) values and their performance for liver fibrosis detection. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifteen healthy volunteers and 33 hepatitis B patients were included. With a 1.5-T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner and respiration gating, IVIM data were acquired with ten b-values of 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 150, 200, 400, and 800 s/mm2. Signal measurement was performed on the right liver. Segmented-unconstrained analysis was used to compute IVIM parameters and six threshold b-values in the range of 40-200 s/mm2 were compared. PF, Dslow, and Dfast values were placed along the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, and a plane was defined to separate volunteers from patients. RESULTS: Higher threshold b-values were associated with higher PF measurement; while lower threshold b-values led to higher Dslow and Dfast measurements. The dependence of PF, Dslow, and Dfast on threshold b-value differed between healthy livers and fibrotic livers; with the healthy livers showing a higher dependence. Threshold b-value = 60 s/mm2 showed the largest mean distance between healthy liver datapoints vs. fibrotic liver datapoints, and a classification and regression tree showed that a combination of PF (PF < 9.5%), Dslow (Dslow < 1.239 × 10-3 mm2/s), and Dfast (Dfast < 20.85 × 10-3 mm2/s) differentiated healthy individuals and all individual fibrotic livers with an area under the curve of logistic regression (AUC) of 1. CONCLUSION: For segmented-unconstrained analysis, the selection of threshold b-value = 60 s/mm2 improves IVIM differentiation between healthy livers and fibrotic livers.

Removal of evidential motion-contaminated and poorly fitted image data improves IVIM diffusion MRI parameter scan-rescan reproducibility.

Background It has been reported that intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan-rescan reproducibility is unsatisfactory. Purpose To study IVIM MRI parameter reproducibility for liver parenchyma after the removal of motion-contaminated and/or poorly fitted image data. Material and Methods Eighteen healthy volunteers had liver scans twice in the same session to assess scan-rescan repeatability, and again in another session after an average interval of 13 days to assess reproducibility. Diffusion-weighted images were acquired with a 3-T scanner using respiratory-triggered echo-planar sequence and 16 b-values (0-800 s/mm2). Measurement was performed on the right liver with segment-unconstrained least square fitting. Image series with evidential anatomical mismatch, apparent artifacts, and poorly fitted signal intensity vs. b-value curve were excluded. A minimum of three slices was deemed necessary for IVIM parameter estimation. Results With a total 54 examinations, six did not satisfy inclusion criteria, leading to a success rate of 89%, and 14 volunteers were finally included for the repeatability/reproducibility study. A total of 3-10 slices per examination (mean = 5.3 slices, median = 5 slices) were utilized for analysis. Using threshold b-value = 80 s/mm2, the coefficient of variation and within-subject coefficient of variation for repeatability were 2.86% and 3.36% for Dslow, 3.81% and 4.24% for perfusion fraction (PF), 18.16% and 24.88% for Dfast; and those for reproducibility were 2.48% and 3.24% for Dslow, 4.91% and 5.38% for PF, and 21.18% and 30.89% for Dfast. Conclusion Removal of motion-contaminated and/or poorly fitted image data improves IVIM parameter reproducibility.

Breath-hold black-blood T1rho mapping improves liver T1rho quantification in healthy volunteers.

Background Recent researches suggest that T1rho may be a non-invasive and quantitative technique for detecting and grading liver fibrosis. Purpose To compare a multi-breath-hold bright-blood fast gradient echo (GRE) imaging and a single breath-hold single-shot fast spin echo (FSE) imaging with black-blood effect for liver parenchyma T1rho measurement and to study liver physiological T1rho value in healthy volunteers. Material and Methods The institutional Ethics Committee approved this study. 28 healthy participants (18 men, 10 women; age = 29.6 ± 5.1 years) underwent GRE liver T1rho imaging, and 20 healthy participants (10 men, 10 women; age = 36.9 ± 10.3 years) underwent novel black-blood FSE liver T1rho imaging, both at 3T with spin-lock frequency of 500 Hz. The FSE technique allows simultaneous acquisition of four spin lock times (TSLs; 1 ms, 10 ms, 30 ms, 50msec) in 10 s. Results For FSE technique the intra-scan repeatability intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.98; while the inter-scan reproducibility ICC was 0.82 which is better than GRE technique's 0.76. Liver T1rho value in women tended to have a higher value than T1rho values in men (FSE: 42.28 ± 4.06 ms for women and 39.13 ± 2.12 ms for men; GRE: 44.44 ± 1.62 ms for women and 42.36 ± 2.00 ms for men) and FSE technique showed liver T1rho value decreased slightly as age increased. Conclusion Single breath-hold black-blood FSE sequence has better scan-rescan reproducibility than multi-breath-hold bright-blood GRE sequence. Gender and age dependence of liver T1rho in healthy participants is observed, with young women tending to have a higher T1rho measurement.