Background & Aims
The clinical application of liver fat quantification has increased in recent years,
paralleling the epidemic increase in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The aim of
this study was to perform a diagnostic evaluation of spectroscopy by comparing its
measurement of total lipid content with that from liver biopsies and morphometry in
normal subjects and patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
Methods
Patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis underwent 3T MR cholangiography with spectroscopic
quantification of TLC. A laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed on the day of
admission, with liver samples taken during surgery. Microcolorimetric assessment quantified
lipid content in liver samples and morphometric evaluation in stained slides. Statistical
analysis included bivariate correlation, regression, and ROC analysis.
Results
The study was conducted in 18 patients, 5 men (mean age, 35.2 ± 11.03 years; range, 27–54 years) and 13 women (mean age, 46.77 ± 11.77 years; range, 21–61 years). Using a cut-off value >5% for fat content, 8 patients presented with steatosis
and 10 patients presented with normal liver fat content. A significant correlation
was observed between fat spectroscopy and lipid content (r = 0.876, p <0.001). A lower and non-significant correlation was observed between lipid content
and morphometry (r = 0.190, p >0.05).
Conclusions
The accuracy of spectroscopy in assessing fat concentration with a cut-off level of
7.48% was 100%. Spectroscopy showed a strong and significant correlation with lipid
content. It may reliably replace liver biopsy for the assessment of liver fat content.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 16, 2010
Accepted:
April 11,
2010
Received in revised form:
March 27,
2010
Received:
October 18,
2009
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
