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Numerous conditions and pathologies affect the biliary system, many of which have underlying benign courses. However, these overall benign conditions can predispose the patient to malignant pathologies, often due to malignancy arising from abnormal biliary ducts (such as with cholangiocarcinoma) or due to malignancy arising from end-stage liver disease caused by the biliary condition (such as with hepatocellular carcinoma). While these malignancies can at times be obvious, some pathologies can be very difficult to detect and distinguish from the underlying benign biliary etiology. This paper discusses various benign biliary pathologies, with discussion of epidemiology, imaging features, malignant potential, and treatment considerations, with the goal of educating radiologists and referring clinicians to the risk and appearance of hepatobiliary malignancies associated with benign biliary conditions., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Hepatic ductopenia is a pathologic diagnosis characterized by a decrease in the number of intrahepatic bile ducts as a consequence of various underlying etiologies. Some etiologies, such as primary sclerosing cholangitis, primary biliary cholangitis, and ischemic cholangitis, often have distinctive imaging findings. In contrast, other causes such as chronic rejection following liver transplantation, drug-induced biliary injury, infection, malignancy such as lymphoma, and graft-versus-host disease may only have ancillary or non-specific imaging findings. Thus, diagnosing ductopenia in conditions with nonspecific imaging findings requires a multidimensional approach, including clinical evaluation, serological testing, imaging, and liver histology to identify the underlying cause. These etiologies lead to impaired bile flow, resulting in cholestasis, liver dysfunction, and, ultimately, cirrhosis and liver failure if the underlying cause remains untreated or undetected. In the majority of instances, individuals diagnosed with ductopenia exhibit a positive response to treatment addressing the root cause or cessation of the causative agent. This article focuses on acquired causes of ductopenia, its clinical manifestation, histopathology, imaging diagnosis, and management., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Purpose: To evaluate magnetic resonance elastography (MRE)-based liver stiffness measurement as a biomarker to predict the onset of cirrhosis in early-stage alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) patients, and the transition from compensated to decompensated cirrhosis in ALD., Methods: Patients with ALD and at least one MRE examination between 2007 and 2020 were included in this study. Patient demographics, liver chemistries, MELD score (within 30 days of the first MRE), and alcohol abstinence history were collected from the electronic medical records. Liver stiffness and fat fraction were measured. Disease progression was assessed in the records by noting cirrhosis onset in early-stage ALD patients and decompensation in those initially presenting with compensated cirrhosis. Nomograms and cut-off values of liver stiffness, derived from Cox proportional hazards models were created to predict the likelihood of advancing to cirrhosis or decompensation., Results: A total of 182 patients (132 men, median age 57 years) were included in this study. Among 110 patients with early-stage ALD, 23 (20.9%) developed cirrhosis after a median follow-up of 6.2 years. Among 72 patients with compensated cirrhosis, 33 (45.8%) developed decompensation after a median follow-up of 4.2 years. MRE-based liver stiffness, whether considered independently or adjusted for age, alcohol abstinence, fat fraction, and sex, was a significant and independent predictor for both future cirrhosis (Hazard ratio [HR] = 2.0-2.2, p = 0.002-0.003) and hepatic decompensation (HR = 1.2-1.3, p = 0.0001-0.006). Simplified Cox models, thresholds, and corresponding nomograms were devised for practical use, excluding non-significant or biased variables., Conclusions: MRE-based liver stiffness assessment is a useful predictor for the development of cirrhosis or decompensation in patients with ALD., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Cross-sectional imaging plays a crucial role in the detection, diagnosis, staging, and resectability assessment of intra- and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Despite this vital function, there is a lack of standardized CT and MRI protocol recommendations for imaging cholangiocarcinoma, with substantial differences in image acquisition across institutions and vendor platforms. In this review, we present standardized strategies for the optimal imaging assessment of cholangiocarcinoma including contrast media considerations, patient preparation recommendations, optimal contrast timing, and representative CT and MRI protocols with individual sequence optimization recommendations. Our recommendations are supported by expert opinion from members of the Society of Abdominal Radiology's Disease-Focused Panel (DFP) on Cholangiocarcinoma, encompassing a broad array of institutions and practice patterns., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: To determine the diagnostic performance of parenchymal MRI features differentiating CP from controls., Methods: This prospective study performed abdominal MRI scans at seven institutions, using 1.5 T Siemens and GE scanners, in 50 control and 51 definite CP participants, from February 2019 to May 2021. MRI parameters included the T1-weighted signal intensity ratio of the pancreas (T1 score), arterial-to-venous enhancement ratio (AVR) during venous and delayed phases, pancreas volume, and diameter. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of these parameters individually and two semi-quantitative MRI scores derived using logistic regression: SQ-MRI Model A (T1 score, AVR venous, and tail diameter) and Model B (T1 score, AVR venous, and volume)., Results: When compared to controls, CP participants showed a significantly lower mean T1 score (1.11 vs. 1.29), AVR venous (0.86 vs. 1.45), AVR delayed (1.07 vs. 1.57), volume (54.97 vs. 80.00 ml), and diameter of the head (2.05 vs. 2.39 cm), body (2.25 vs. 2.58 cm), and tail (1.98 vs. 2.51 cm) (p < 0.05 for all). AUCs for these individual MR parameters ranged from 0.66 to 0.79, while AUCs for the SQ-MRI scores were 0.82 and 0.81 for Model A (T1 score, AVR venous, and tail diameter) and Model B (T1 score, AVR venous, and volume), respectively. After propensity-matching adjustments for covariates, AUCs for Models A and B of the SQ-MRI scores increased to 0.92 and 0.93, respectively., Conclusion: Semi-quantitative parameters of the pancreatic parenchyma, including T1 score, enhancement ratio, pancreas volume, diameter and multi-parametric models combining these parameters are helpful in diagnosis of CP. Longitudinal analyses including more extensive population are warranted to develop new diagnostic criteria for CP., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Primary sclerosing cholangitis is a rare chronic inflammatory disease affecting the bile ducts, which can eventually result in bile duct strictures, cholestasis and cirrhosis. Patients are often asymptomatic but may present with clinical features of cholestasis. Imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis and management. This review covers the pathophysiology, clinical features, imaging findings as well as methods of surveillance and post-transplant appearance., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease characterized by biliary ductal inflammation and fibrosis causing both intrahepatic and extrahepatic biliary strictures and dilatation. There is currently no effective medical treatment and the disease leads to cirrhosis and liver failure, with patients often requiring liver transplantation in end-stage disease. Liver fibrosis is one of the most important factors in determining patient outcome in PSC, and the diagnosis and monitoring of fibrosis are vital to patient care. MRI with magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography is the non-invasive imaging modality of choice in PSC and is useful for the evaluation of parenchymal and biliary changes. Biliary ductal abnormalities, however, cannot always predict the presence of liver fibrosis and alternative means are needed. MR Elastography (MRE) is the most accurate non-invasive method for assessing liver fibrosis and is particularly helpful in PSC due to unique hepatic manifestations. Like other non-invasive modalities, MRE measures liver stiffness as an indirect method for assessing fibrosis. Given the ability of MRE to assess liver fibrosis and the importance of fibrosis in PSC patients, MRE can reliably predict patient outcome. In this pictorial review, we will review MR findings of PSC, with an emphasis on MRE, and demonstrate scenarios where MRE is particularly helpful in evaluating PSC patients., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: To determine if quantitative MRI techniques can be helpful to evaluate chronic pancreatitis (CP) in a setting of multi-institutional study., Methods: This study included a subgroup of participants (n = 101) enrolled in the Prospective Evaluation of Chronic Pancreatitis for Epidemiologic and Translational Studies (PROCEED) study (NCT03099850) from February 2019 to May 2021. MRI was performed on 1.5 T using Siemens and GE scanners at seven clinical centers across the USA. Quantitative MRI parameters of the pancreas included T1 relaxation time, extracellular volume (ECV) fraction, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and fat signal fraction. We report the diagnostic performance and mean values within the control (n = 50) and CP (n = 51) groups. The T1, ECV and fat signal fraction were combined to generate the quantitative MRI score (Q-MRI)., Results: There was significantly higher T1 relaxation time; mean 669 ms (± 171) vs. 593 ms (± 82) (p = 0.006), ECV fraction; 40.2% (± 14.7) vs. 30.3% (± 11.9) (p < 0.001), and pancreatic fat signal fraction; 12.2% (± 5.5) vs. 8.2% (± 4.4) (p < 0.001) in the CP group compared to controls. The ADC was similar between groups (p = 0.45). The AUCs for the T1, ECV, and pancreatic fat signal fraction were 0.62, 0.72, and 0.73, respectively. The composite Q-MRI score improved the diagnostic performance (cross-validated AUC: 0.76)., Conclusion: Quantitative MR parameters evaluating the pancreatic parenchyma (T1, ECV fraction, and fat signal fraction) are helpful in the diagnosis of CP. A Q-MRI score that combines these three MR parameters improves diagnostic performance. Further studies are warranted with larger study populations including patients with acute and recurrent acute pancreatitis and longitudinal follow-ups., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: Our purpose was to validate the T1 SIR (T1 score) as an imaging biomarker for the staging of CP in a large, multi-institutional, prospective study., Methods: The prospective study population included 820 participants enrolled in the PROCEED study from nine clinical centers between June 2017 and December 2021. A radiologist at each institution used a standardized method to measure the T1 signal intensity of the pancreas and the reference organs (spleen, paraspinal muscle, liver), which was used to derive respective T1 scores. Participants were stratified according to the seven mechanistic stages of chronic pancreatitis (MSCP 0-6) based on their clinical history, MRCP, and CT findings., Results: The mean pancreas-to-spleen T1 score was 1.30 in participants with chronic abdominal pain, 1.22 in those with acute or recurrent acute pancreatitis, and 1.03 in definite CP. After adjusting for covariates, we observed a linear, progressive decline in the pancreas-to-spleen T1 score with increasing MSCP from 0 to 6. The mean pancreas-to-spleen T1 scores were 1.34 (MSCP 0), 1.27 (MSCP 1), 1.21 (MSCP 2), 1.16 (MSCP 3), 1.18 (MSCP 4), 1.12 (MSCP 5), and 1.05 (MSCP 6) (p < 0.0001). The pancreas-to-liver and pancreas-to-muscle T1 scores showed less linear trends and wider confidence intervals., Conclusion: The T1 score calculated by SIR of the pancreas-to-spleen shows a negative linear correlation with the progression of chronic pancreatitis. It holds promise as a practical imaging biomarker in evaluating disease severity in clinical research and practice., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Elastography has emerged as a preferred non-invasive imaging technique for the clinical assessment of liver fibrosis. Elastography methods provide liver stiffness measurement (LSM) as a surrogate quantitative biomarker for fibrosis burden in chronic liver disease (CLD). Elastography can be performed either with ultrasound or MRI. Currently available ultrasound-based methods include strain elastography, two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE), point shear wave elastography (pSWE), and vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE). MR Elastography (MRE) is widely available as two-dimensional gradient echo MRE (2D-GRE-MRE) technique. US-based methods provide estimated Young's modulus (eYM) and MRE provides magnitude of the complex shear modulus. MRE and ultrasound methods have proven to be accurate methods for detection of advanced liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Other clinical applications of elastography include liver decompensation prediction, and differentiation of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) from simple steatosis (SS). In this review, we briefly describe the different elastography methods, discuss current clinical applications, and provide an overview of advances in the field of liver elastography., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Liver fibrosis (LF) is the wound healing response to chronic liver injury. LF is the endpoint of chronic liver disease (CLD) regardless of etiology and the single most important determinant of long-term liver-related clinical outcomes. Quantification of LF is important for staging, to evaluate response to treatment and to predict outcomes. LF is traditionally staged by liver biopsy. However, liver biopsy is invasive and suffers from sampling errors when biopsy size is inadequate; therefore, non-invasive tests (NITs) have found important roles in clinical care. NITs include simple laboratory-based serum tests, panels of serum tests, and imaging biomarkers. NITs are validated against the liver biopsy and will be used in the future for evaluation of nearly all CLDs with invasive liver biopsy reserved for some cases. Both serum tests and some imaging biomarkers such as elastography are currently used clinically as surrogate markers for LF. Several other imaging biomarkers are still considered research and awaiting clinical application in the future. As the evaluation of imaging biomarkers will likely become the norm in the future, understanding pathogenesis of LF is important. Knowledge of properties measured by imaging biomarkers and its correlation with LF is important to understand the application of NITs by abdominal radiologists. In this review, we present a brief overview of pathogenesis of LF, spatiotemporal evolution of LF in different CLD, and severity assessment with liver biopsy. This will be followed by a brief discussion on properties measured by imaging biomarkers and their relationship to the LF., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) of the liver has emerged as the non-invasive standard for the evaluation of liver fibrosis in chronic liver diseases (CLDs). The utility of MRE in the evaluation of different CLD in both adults and children has been demonstrated in several studies, and MRE has been recommended by several clinical societies. Consequently, the clinical indications for evaluation of CLD with MRE have increased, and MRE is currently used as an add-on test during routine liver MRI studies or as a standalone test. To meet the increasing clinical demand, MRE is being installed in many academic and private practice imaging centers. There is a need for a comprehensive practical guide to help these practices to deliver high-quality liver MRE studies as well as troubleshoot the common issues with MRE to ensure smooth running of the service. This comprehensive clinical practice review summarizes the indications and provides an overview on why to use MRE, technical requirements, system set-up, patient preparation, acquiring the data, and interpretation., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility and diagnostic value of high-frequency magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for evaluation of prostatic disease in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)., Methods: 41 patients who underwent preoperative prostate MRI and MRE with a modified driver were enrolled retrospectively from May 2016 to September 2021. All were included in the assessment of MRE image quality, using a qualitative visual inspection and a quantitative confidence map. 35 patients (prostate cancer (PCa), n = 13; non-PCa, n = 22) undergoing prostatectomy or biopsy were evaluated for the diagnostic performance of stiffness values. The confidence values and the stiffness values were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and independent samples T test, respectively. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) analysis was performed., Results: Through the qualitative analysis, all MRE acquisitions were successful at 60, 90, 120 and 150 Hz. The quantitative confidence values were significantly lower at 60 Hz (0.683 ± 0.055) and 90 Hz (0.762 ± 0.048) than that at 120 Hz (0.814 ± 0.049) and 150 Hz (0.840 ± 0.049), all P < 0.001. The stiffness of PCa was higher than non-PCa at 90 Hz (P = 0.008), 120 Hz (P < 0.001) and 150 Hz (P < 0.001). The AUCs were 0.773, 0.881 and 0.944, respectively., Conclusion: Prostate MRE using the modified driver is feasible at 60-150 Hz and image quality is better at higher frequencies. Prostate MRE may be useful and helpful to evaluate prostate diseases in patients with LUTS at higher frequencies; however, further study may be warranted with larger population in future., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: To initiate a peer learning conference for our abdominal radiology division across multiple geographically separated sites and different time zones, and to determine radiologist preference for peer learning versus traditional score-based peer review., Methods: We implemented a monthly peer learning videoconference for our abdominal radiology division. Surveys regarding radiologist opinion regarding traditional peer review and the new peer learning conferences were conducted before and after 6 months of conferences., Results: Peer learning conferences were well attended across our multiple sites, with an average of 43 participants per conference. Radiologist opinion regarding peer review was poor, with survey radiologists responding positively to only 1 out of 12 process questions. Opinion regarding peer learning was extremely favorable, with radiologists responding positively to 12 out of the same 12 process questions. After 6 months of peer learning conferences, 87.9% of surveyed radiologists wished to continue them in some fashion, and no one preferred to return to score-based peer review alone., Conclusion: We successfully implemented a peer learning conference for our abdominal radiology division spread out over multiple geographic sites. Our radiologists strongly preferred peer learning conferences over our traditional peer review system for quality control., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a commonly performed imaging technique with multiple indications and applications. There are two general groups of contrast agents used when imaging the liver, extracellular contrast agents (ECA) and hepatobiliary agents (HBA), each of which has its own advantages and limitations. Liver MRI with ECA provides excellent information on abdominal vasculature and better quality multi-phasic studies for characterization of focal liver lesions. HBA improves lesion detection, provides information regarding liver function and can be helpful for evaluating biliary tree anatomy, excretion, anastomotic stenoses, or leaks. Most liver MRI studies are usually performed with one agent, however in some cases, a second study is performed with another agent to obtain additional information or confirm the findings in the first study. Administering both agents in a single exam can potentially eliminate the need for additional imaging in certain situations. In this pictorial review, the techniques and indications for dual contrast MRI will be detailed with multiple demonstrative examples., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: To assess the influence of region of interest (ROI) placement on the predictive value of 3D MRE in differentiating the histologic grade of HCC., Methods: 85 patients with pathologically confirmed HCCs were analyzed using 3D MRE imaging, two radiologists measured the tumor stiffness with three different ROI positioning methods. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was expressed in terms of inter- and intra-observer agreements. Kruskal-Wallis rank test or one-way ANOVA was used to compare the difference in MRE stiffness across the three-ROI positioning methods. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (ROC) was performed, and the area under curve (AUC) was measured to evaluate the diagnostic performance., Results: There were 64 (75%) well-or-moderately differentiated HCCs and 21(25%) poorly differentiated HCCs included finally. Almost excellent inter- and intra-observer agreements (all ICC > 0.82) were observed for all three-ROI methods, the volumetric method has the highest values (inter-observer ICC 0.967, intra-observer ICC 0.919, 0.926, respectively). The mean stiffnesses of poorly differentiated HCC obtained by two readers were significantly higher than well-or-moderately differentiated HCC with volumetric method (7.07 ± 1.57 Kpa, 5.00 ± 1.49 Kpa, and 6.85 ± 1.49 Kpa, 4.94 ± 1.48 Kpa, respectively) and three-ROI method (6.14 ± 1.71 Kpa, 4.91 ± 1.56 Kpa and 5.94 ± 1.61 Kpa, 4.84 ± 1.54 Kpa, respectively) but not on single-ROI method (p > 0.005), for the diagnostic performance, the highest area under the curve (AUC) with a value of 0.837, 0.812 by using the volumetric method, followed by the three-ROI method (0.713, 0.754) and single-ROI method., Conclusion: Different ROI positioning methods significantly affect HCC tumor stiffness measurements. The whole tumor volumetric analysis is superior to ROI-based methods for predicting the grade of HCC., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Purpose: To assess the relationship between MRE stiffness of prostate cancer (PCa) and the extent of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in patients with PCa undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) and extended pelvic lymph node dissection (ePLND)., Materials: The local institutional review board approved this retrospective study. We retrospectively analyzed 49 patients, who had undergone MRE, mpMRI and pelvic MRI on a 3.0 T MRI scanner, with histopathological confirmed PCa after RP (from June 2015 to December 2019). For each patient, preoperative clinical data and characteristics of MRE, mpMRI and pelvic MRI were recorded. Independent-samples t test, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. And receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were performed to compare the diagnostic performances of multivariate models with the Briganti 2019 nomogram., Results: PCa MRE stiffness and maximum diameter were independent predictors of LNM. When PCa MRE stiffness at 60 Hz (odds ratio [OR] = 20.223, P = 0.013) and maximum diameter (OR = 4.575, P = 0.046) were combined, the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 91.9% to predict LNM. When PCa MRE stiffness at 90 Hz (OR = 7.920, P = 0.013) and maximum diameter (OR = 2.810, P = 0.045) were combined, the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 86.5% to predict LNM. The areas under curves (AUCs) of the combinations were higher than the AUC of the Briganti 2019 nomogram (0.982 vs. 0.904, P = 0.040 [60 Hz]; 0.975 vs. 0.904, P = 0.060 [90 Hz], respectively)., Conclusions: MRE-based assessment of PCa stiffness may be useful for predicting LNM of PCa preoperatively and noninvasively.

Introduction: This study evaluates 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging characteristics of pathologically proven hepatocellular adenoma (HCA) subtypes., Methods: This is a retrospective review of an institutional database (2011-2017) for subjects with a pathologic diagnosis of hepatic adenomas established within 6 months of a pre-treatment 18F-FDG PET/CT exam. An expert pathological review by a hepatopathologist was performed to confirm diagnosis and subtype HCA. A review of the 18F-FDG PET/CT exams was performed by two board-certified nuclear radiologists in consensus. Corresponding demographic and clinical data were obtained by electronic chart review., Results: Nine subjects were identified. An HCA subtype was established in seven subjects (4 HNF1A-mutated and 3 Inflammatory). The mean HCA lesion size was 2.8 cm (range 0.6-6.2, SD 2.0) with a mean SUVmax of 5.9 (range 2.1-18.9, SD 5.1). The SUV values of HNF1A-mutated HCA were significantly higher than inflammatory HCA: lesion SUVmax (5.3 ± 1.48 vs. 2.8 ± 0.59, p < 0.033), lesion-to-liver SUVmax ratio (1.4 ± 0.22 vs. 0.8 ± 0.21, p = 0.031), lesion SUVmean (3.6 ± 0.37 vs. 2.0 ± 0.46, p = 0.0086)., Conclusion: HNF1A-mutated HCA may have greater SUV values than inflammatory HCA on 18F-FDG PET/CT exams. However, there are contradictory data in the literature and further investigation is warranted.

Non-invasive evaluation of liver fibrosis has evolved over the last couple of decades. Currently, elastography techniques are the most widely used non-invasive methods for clinical evaluation of chronic liver disease (CLD). MR elastography (MRE) of the liver has been used in the clinical practice for nearly a decade and continues to be widely accepted for detection and staging of liver fibrosis. With MRE, one can directly visualize propagating shear waves through the liver and an inversion algorithm in the scanner automatically converts the shear wave properties into an elastogram (stiffness map) on which liver stiffness can be calculated. The commonly used MRE method, two-dimensional gradient recalled echo (2D-GRE) sequence has produced excellent results in the evaluation of liver fibrosis in CLD from various etiologies and newer clinical indications continue to emerge. Advances in MRE technique, including 3D MRE, automated liver elasticity calculation, improvements in shear wave delivery and patient experience, are promising to provide a faster and more reliable MRE of liver. Innovations, including evaluation of mechanical parameters, such as loss modulus, displacement, and volumetric strain, are promising for comprehensive evaluation of CLD as well as understanding pathophysiology, and in differentiating various etiologies of CLD. In this review, the current status of the MRE of liver in CLD are outlined and followed by a brief description of advanced techniques and innovations in MRE of liver.

Purpose: To evaluate the biliary tree and hepatic parenchymal findings on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) in small-duct primary sclerosing cholangitis (SD-PSC)., Methods: Thirty-nine patients with biopsy-proven primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) without any bile duct abnormality on MRCP (n = 15) or ERCP (n = 24) at the time of diagnosis were identified. Follow-up MRCP was available in 36/39 patients (12/15 Baseline MRCP group and 24 Baseline ERCP group). Two radiologists in consensus assessed the MRI/MRCP findings. The baseline MRI/MRCP of 15 SD-PSC patients was compared with MRI/MRCP of 15 normal healthy potential liver donors (Control group). Comparisons were made between SD-PSC patients and the Control group, and between baseline and follow-up MRI/MRCP findings in the SD-PSC patients., Results: In the 15 Baseline MRCP SD-PSC subjects, the biliary tree was normal with a trend of larger bile ducts compared to the Control group. Periductal enhancement (arterial phase: 70%, 7/10; delayed phase: 90%, 9/10), heterogeneous parenchymal signal on T2-weighted (53%, 8/15) and post contrast-enhanced images (70%, 7/10), and enlarged periportal lymph nodes (73%, 11/15) were frequently present in patients with SD-PSC. Eight (33%) of 24 SD-PSC patients who had normal MRCP at baseline MRCP or initial follow-up MRCP after normal baseline ERCP showed large-duct PSC (LD-PSC) features on follow-up and the 10-year cumulative incidence for progression to LD-PSC rate was 8.5%., Conclusion: SD-PSC patients have a normal biliary tree but frequently have peribiliary enhancement, abnormal parenchymal signal intensity, and periportal lymphadenopathy. One-third shows progression to LD-PSC on follow-up.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to quantify the value of pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in guiding surgical management of women with endometriosis., Methods: Pre-operative discussion of patient management and review of imaging occurred for 136 patients with endometriosis in an MRI-based multidisciplinary conference co-directed by an abdominal radiologist and gynecologic surgeon. A tri-compartmental report template guided the systematic imaging review. Management changes made as a result of the conference were identified via retrospective chart review and classified as major, directly influencing the surgical procedure or approach, or minor, impacting the patient's medical management, therapies, or diagnostic evaluation., Results: Of the 136 patients discussed in conference, a management change was identified in 18.4% (25 patients). Major changes occurred in 8.1% (11 patients) and minor changes in 13.2% (18 patients). The sum of major and minor management changes exceeded the total, as both major and minor management changes were made for 4 patients., Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate the ability of an MRI-based multidisciplinary conference to result in pre-operative management changes in approximately 1 of 5 pre-operatively reviewed women with endometriosis. Importantly, systematic review of the MRI facilitated management changes beyond that of the dictated report alone, which was available to clinicians prior to the conference. The study reflects the value of multidisciplinary interaction, with radiologists serving more directly as clinical consultants to surgical services, and suggests an opportunity to optimize the role of MRI in endometriosis management with standardized reports emphasizing surgically pertinent findings.

Purpose: To retrospectively investigate the relationship between ovarian positioning on pre-operative MR imaging and intra-operative staging of endometriosis., Materials and Methods: Sixty-five women with suspected endometriosis who underwent pre-operative MRI and subsequent intra-operative staging of endometriosis formed the study group. A trained senior radiology resident and a board-certified staff radiologist experienced in endometriosis reviewed MR images for ovarian positioning and the presence of an endometrioma. The position of the ovaries was classified as (a) kissing when they were posterior to the uterus and in contact, (b) retropositioned when they were posterior to the uterus but not in contact, or (c) normal. Intra-operative staging of endometriosis (stage 0 to IV) was determined using the revised American Society for Reproductive Medicine classification system (rASRM) by a surgeon with expertise in endometriosis surgery. Correlation between ovarian positioning and endometriosis stage was evaluated with a logistical regression analysis. Sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated., Results: MR images revealed kissing ovaries in 12 women, retropositioned ovaries in 17 women, and normally positioned ovaries in 36 women. At surgery, endometriosis stages 0, I, II, III, and IV were found in 13, 15, 6, 9, and 22 patients, respectively. The odds of stage IV endometriosis were eight times higher given kissing or retropositioned compared to normal ovaries, regardless of the presence of an endometrioma (p =0.01). Kissing and retropositioned ovaries had an accuracy of 82% for stage IV endometriosis, with 86% sensitivity and 79% specificity. All cases with kissing ovaries had stage III/IV endometriosis., Conclusions: Kissing and retropositioned ovaries on pre-operative MR images are associated with higher intra-operative rASRM stages of endometriosis.

Purpose: To compare liver stiffness measurement (LSM) with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) and liver and spleen volumetry for prediction of disease severity and hepatic decompensation in primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)., Methods: This retrospective study was approved by the institutional review board. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRE studies were reviewed, and mean LSM of entire liver, right lobe and left lobe, total liver, right lobe, left lobe, caudate lobe, and spleen volumes were calculated. Qualitative evaluation of lobar atrophy or hypertrophy and presence of macronodular regeneration (MNR) was recorded. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate correlations between LSM, volumetry measurements, and Mayo risk score. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to predict hepatic decompensation., Results: A total of 266 patients with PSC were included in the study. Lobar stiffness measures were higher in the presence of relative lobe atrophy. Mean LSM was higher in the presence of MNR. Significant correlations were observed between mean LSM and volumetry measurements with a fair correlation between LSM and spleen volume (r s  = 0.526, p < 0.0001). Among the measurements, the best correlation was observed between mean LSM and Mayo risk score (r s  = 0.646, p < 0.0001). In the multivariate analyses, mean LSM and Mayo risk score were significantly associated with liver decompensation (hazard ratio, 1.18; 95%CI 1.02-1.36 and hazard ratio, 1.65; 95%CI 1.08-2.53, respectively)., Conclusion: LSM with MRE performs significantly better than liver and spleen volumes for prediction of both disease severity and hepatic decompensation.

Contrast enhanced MRI of the liver provides valuable information in the evaluation of both chronic liver disease and focal liver lesions. Currently, two classes of MRI contrast agents are available for clinical use, namely the extracellular contrast agent (ECA) and the hepatobiliary agent (HBA). The use of appropriate contrast agents for liver MRI requires knowledge of the clinical situation and question to be answered. ECAs have been used for decades since their introduction into clinical practice and provide excellent dynamic phase information that is useful in characterizing focal liver lesions. In the last decade, HBAs, particularly Gadoxetate, have been found useful for characterizing lesions with functioning hepatocytes and more importantly in evaluating the biliary tree. Gadoxetate, however, provides less satisfactory dynamic phase images compared to ECAs, particularly during the arterial phase. In this perspective article, we will discuss the various intravenous contrast agents used for liver MRI and their ideal utilization.

Purpose: Prior iterative reconstruction (PIR) spatially registers CT image data from multiple phases of enhancement to reduce image noise. We evaluated PIR in contrast-enhanced multiphase liver CT., Methods: Patients with archived projection CT data with proven malignant or benign liver lesions, or without lesions, by reference criteria were included. Lower-dose PIR images were reconstructed using validated noise insertion from multiphase CT exams (50% dose in 2 phases, 25% dose in 1 phase). The phase of enhancement most relevant to the diagnostic task was selected for evaluation. Four radiologists reviewed routine-dose and lower-dose PIR images, circumscribing liver lesions and rating confidence for malignancy (0 to 100) and image quality. JAFROC Figures of Merit (FOM) were calculated., Results: 31 patients had 60 liver lesions (28 primary hepatic malignancies, 6 hepatic metastases, 26 benign lesions). Pooled JAFROC FOM for malignancy for routine-dose CT was 0.615 (95% CI 0.464, 0.767) compared to 0.662 for PIR (95% CI 0.527, 0.797). The estimated FOM difference between the routine-dose and lower-dose PIR images was + 0.047 (95% CI - 0.023, + 0.116). Pooled sensitivity/specificity for routine-dose images was 70%/68% compared to 73%/66% for lower-dose PIR. Lower-dose PIR had lower diagnostic image quality (mean 3.8 vs. 4.2, p = 0.0009) and sharpness (mean 2.3 vs. 2.0, p = 0.0071)., Conclusions: PIR is a promising method to reduce radiation dose for multiphase abdominal CT, preserving observer performance despite small reductions in image quality. Further work is warranted.

Characteristic features of chronic pancreatitis (CP) may be absent on standard imaging studies. Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques such as T 1 mapping, extracellular volume (ECV) fraction, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) with apparent diffusion coefficient map (ADC), MR elastography (MRE), and T 1 -weighted signal intensity ratio (SIR) have shown promise for the diagnosis and grading severity of CP. However, radiologists still use the Cambridge classification which is based on traditional ductal imaging alone. There is an urgent need to develop new diagnostic criteria that incorporate both parenchymal and ductal features of CP seen by MRI/MRCP. Designed to fulfill this clinical need, we present the MINIMAP study, which was funded in September 2018 by the National Institutes of Health. This is a comprehensive quantitative MR imaging study which will be performed at multiple institutions in well-phenotyped CP patient cohorts. We hypothesize that quantitative MRI/MRCP features can serve as valuable non-invasive imaging biomarkers to detect and grade CP. We will evaluate the role of T 1 relaxometry, ECV, T 1 -weighted gradient echo SIR, MRE, arteriovenous enhancement ratio, ADC, pancreas volume/atrophy, pancreatic fat fraction, ductal features, and pancreatic exocrine output following secretin stimulation in the assessment of CP. We will attempt to generate a multi-parametric pancreatic tissue fibrosis (PTF) scoring system. We anticipate that a quantitative scoring system may serve as a biomarker of pancreatic fibrosis; hence this imaging technique can be used in clinical practice as well as clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of agents which may slow the progression or reverse measures of CP.

Purpose: To report imaging and pathologic features of five pathologically proven anastomosing hemangiomas of the liver (AHL)., Methods: A retrospective review for AHL was conducted using our institutional database from 6/2004 to 3/2018. Histology proven AHL with radiologic imaging available for review were included. A total of five patients who met our criteria were identified from our institutional database. Computed tomography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging findings, including location, size, attenuation/signal intensity, enhancement characteristics, and additional imaging data were reviewed. The clinical and pathological data were also reviewed., Results: The imaging characteristics of AHL are variable, but features such as peripheral or diffuse hyperintensity on diffusion weighted imaging, arterial hyperenhancement without globular interrupted enhancement, and persistent enhancement without complete filling in the delayed phases were more characteristic of AHL. Imaging also demonstrated a lack of aggressive features., Conclusions: AHL present a diagnostic dilemma as they can mimic more malignant lesions, such as angiosarcoma, both on imaging and at pathology. While the imaging characteristics of AHL are variable, there are some features which can help distinguish AHL from other liver lesions. When the diagnosis of anastomosing hemangioma is known, the management of choice is primarily surveillance, as intervention can cause unnecessary morbidity, and no degeneration to malignancy has been identified to date.

Purpose: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) is an autosomal dominant multi-organ vascular disorder that commonly affects the gastrointestinal tract and the liver resulting in telangiectasias and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Previous studies looking at the prevalence of liver and abdominal organ involvement in HHT have been limited by differing imaging techniques and sample size limitations. We sought to define the prevalence of HHT related abdominal vascular abnormalities using optimized multiphasic contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT) exams in a large cohort of HHT patients., Methods: Between January 2001 and May 2015; we identified a total of 333 consecutive HHT patients who had undergone a dedicated HHT protocol multiphase abdominal CT at our institution. The CT exams were reviewed by three board certified abdominal radiologists for the presence of vascular abnormalities involving the liver, pancreas, spleen, and other abdominal organs. Vascular abnormalities involving the liver were further categorized as telangiectasias, large confluent vascular masses, perfusion abnormalities, or hepatic shunts., Results: In patients with abdominal vascular abnormalities, the liver was the most commonly involved organ, with 180 out of 333 (54.1%) patients demonstrating at least one hepatic vascular abnormality (telangiectasia, confluent vascular mass, transient perfusion abnormalities, and hepatic shunts), with most (70.0%) demonstrating multiple hepatic vascular abnormalities. The other most common organs involved included the pancreas (18.0%), spleen (6.3%), and small bowel (4.5%)., Conclusion: In patients with the clinical diagnosis of HHT, greater than half demonstrate an abdominal vascular abnormality, with the most commonly involved organ being the liver. These may be under recognized on routine or single phase contrast-enhanced CT of the abdomen. This supports the use of optimized multiphasic abdominal CT exams as an important tool for the evaluation and screening of patients with HHT.

Aim: To determine correlation of liver stiffness measured by MR Elastography (MRE) with biliary abnormalities on MR Cholangiopancreatography (MRCP) and MRI parenchymal features in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)., Methods: Fifty-five patients with PSC who underwent MRI of the liver with MRCP and MRE were retrospectively evaluated. Two board-certified abdominal radiologists in agreement reviewed the MRI, MRCP, and MRE images. The biliary tree was evaluated for stricture, dilatation, wall enhancement, and thickening at segmental duct, right main duct, left main duct, and common bile duct levels. Liver parenchyma features including signal intensity on T2W and DWI, and hyperenhancement in arterial, portal venous, and delayed phase were evaluated in nine Couinaud liver segments. Atrophy or hypertrophy of segments, cirrhotic morphology, varices, and splenomegaly were scored as present or absent. Regions of interest were placed in each of the nine segments on stiffness maps wherever available and liver stiffness (LS) was recorded. Mean segmental LS, right lobar (V-VIII), left lobar (I-III, and IVA, IVB), and global LS (average of all segments) were calculated. Spearman rank correlation analysis was performed for significant correlation. Features with significant correlation were then analyzed for significant differences in mean LS. Multiple regression analysis of MRI and MRCP features was performed for significant correlation with elevated LS., Results: A total of 439/495 segments were evaluated and 56 segments not included in MRE slices were excluded for correlation analysis. Mean segmental LS correlated with the presence of strictures (r = 0.18, p < 0.001), T2W hyperintensity (r = 0.38, p < 0.001), DWI hyperintensity (r = 0.30, p < 0.001), and hyperenhancement of segment in all three phases. Mean LS of atrophic and hypertrophic segments were significantly higher than normal segments (7.07 ± 3.6 and 6.67 ± 3.26 vs. 5.1 ± 3.6 kPa, p < 0.001). In multiple regression analysis, only the presence of segmental strictures (p < 0.001), T2W hyperintensity (p = 0.01), and segmental hypertrophy (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with elevated segmental LS. Only left ductal stricture correlated with left lobe LS (r = 0.41, p = 0.018). Global LS correlated significantly with CBD stricture (r = 0.31, p = 0.02), number of segmental strictures (r = 0.28, p = 0.04), splenomegaly (r = 0.56, p < 0.001), and varices (r = 0.58, p < 0.001)., Conclusion: In PSC, there is low but positive correlation between segmental LS and segmental duct strictures. Segments with increased LS show T2 hyperintensity, DWI hyperintensity, and post-contrast hyperenhancement. Global liver stiffness shows a moderate correlation with number of segmental strictures and significantly correlates with spleen stiffness, splenomegaly, and varices.

Venous invasion by hepatic tumors most commonly occurs with hepatocellular carcinoma and is associated with worse patient prognosis. Imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis of tumor thrombus in the liver. Moreover, differentiating between bland and tumor thrombus in the liver has important diagnostic, staging, therapeutic, and prognostic implications and may require a multimodal imaging approach including ultrasound, computed tomography, and/or magnetic resonance imaging. Treatment of hepatic malignancies with associated tumor thrombus is dependent on tumor type, disease extent within the liver, liver hemodynamics, and underlying liver function. Treatment of such tumors may involve surgical, locoregional and/or systemic therapies. The current review will focus on the imaging characteristics of venous invasion by hepatic tumors. The imaging findings most useful for differentiating hepatic venous tumor thrombus and bland thrombus will be highlighted and demonstrated with imaging examples. Imaging findings with implications for subsequent patient management will be described.

Passive hepatic congestion may result from a variety of distinct cardiovascular conditions. Injury to the liver caused by congestion is often asymptomatic and may not be recognized clinically. Diagnosis of congestive hepatopathy is important as it has the potential to cause complications including hepatic fibrosis and development of benign and malignant liver masses. This review will summarize the pathophysiologic mechanisms of congestive hepatopathy and provide both description and examples of its multimodality imaging findings. Examples of alternative disease which may have a similar imaging appearance will be provided. Knowledge regarding the characteristic imaging findings of congestive hepatopathy will allow for its accurate identification. Reviewing both the benefits and limitations of imaging performed to evaluate congestive hepatopathy and its complications will help to avoid pitfalls and enable recommendation of appropriate next steps in diagnostic evaluation.

A number of benign and malignant neoplasms may arise from the vascular elements within the liver parenchyma. Lesions discussed in this article include angiosarcoma, epithelioid hemangioendothelioma, solitary fibrous tumor (hemangiopericytoma), infantile, and cavernous hemangiomas. Despite a common theme of vascular origin, the pathologic and imaging appearance of these entities can be heterogeneous. Angiosarcomas are bizarrely enhancing, highly aggressive tumors, which often present with metastatic disease. When solitary, epithelioid hemangioendothelioma lesions can exhibit a concentric ring or target appearance on contrast-enhanced CT and at MR and when numerous may be indistinguishable from angiosarcoma except for a more slowly advancing course. Primary solitary fibrous tumors of the liver are exceedingly rare solid masses and most often initially diagnosed on imaging as other entities such as cholangiocarcinoma. Infantile hemangiomas consist of benign proliferation of the vascular endothelium and in the absence of flow-related complications, are usually clinically silent, and may be detected incidentally as T1 hypointense, T2 hyperintense, centripetally enhancing lesions. Cavernous hemangiomas are extremely common hepatic lesions and when classic rarely offer a challenge in diagnosis, though atypical variants may mimic more serious diseases. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of important vascular tumors of the liver in order to aid the radiologist in providing a broad differential diagnosis for focal liver lesions, and when classic, suggest specific uncommonly seen diagnoses in order to more accurately guide clinical management.

Liver stiffness is now a well-established noninvasive biomarker for assessing fibrosis in chronic liver disease. MRI-based and ultrasound-based dynamic elastography techniques have been introduced for assessment of liver stiffness and useful in clinical staging of hepatic fibrosis. Several different elastography techniques are now available with each method having inherent strengths and limitations. The published literature generally indicates that MR elastography has a higher diagnostic performance and fewer technical failures than ultrasound-based elastography techniques in assessing hepatic fibrosis. There is also significant potential to further develop elastography techniques to implement multiparametric methods that have promise for distinguishing between processes such as inflammation, fibrosis, venous congestion, and portal hypertension that can result in increased liver stiffness. In this commentary, we compare MR and ultrasound elastography methods and their utility in clinical practice.

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has been introduced for clinical evaluation of liver fibrosis for nearly a decade. MRE has proven to be a robust and accurate technique for diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis. As clinical experience with MRE grows, the possible role in evaluation of other diffuse and focal disorders of liver is emerging. Stiffness maps provide an opportunity to evaluate mechanical properties within a large volume of liver tissue. This enables appreciation of spatial heterogeneity of stiffness. Stiffness maps may reveal characteristic and differentiating features of chronic liver diseases and focal liver lesions and therefore provide useful information for clinical management. The objective of this pictorial review is to recapture the essentials of MRE technique and illustrate with examples, the utility of stiffness maps in other chronic liver disorders and focal liver lesions.

Purpose: Single-energy low tube potential (SE-LTP) and dual-energy virtual monoenergetic (DE-VM) CT images both increase the conspicuity of hepatic lesions by increasing iodine signal. Our purpose was to compare the conspicuity of proven liver lesions, artifacts, and radiologist preferences in dose-matched SE-LTP and DE-VM images., Methods: Thirty-one patients with 72 proven liver lesions (21 benign, 51 malignant) underwent full-dose contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT (DECT). Half-dose images were obtained using single tube reconstruction of the dual-source SE-LTP projection data (80 or 100 kV), and by inserting noise into dual-energy projection data, with DE-VM images reconstructed from 40 to 70 keV. Three blinded gastrointestinal radiologists evaluated half-dose SE-LTP and DE-VM images, ranking and grading liver lesion conspicuity and diagnostic confidence (4-point scale) on a per-lesion basis. Image quality (noise, artifacts, sharpness) was evaluated, and overall image preference was ranked on per-patient basis. Lesion-to-liver contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was compared between techniques., Results: Mean lesion size was 1.5 ± 1.2 cm. Across the readers, the mean conspicuity ratings for 40, 45, and 50 keV half-dose DE-VM images were superior compared to other half-dose image sets (p < 0.0001). Per-lesion diagnostic confidence was similar between half-dose SE-LTP compared to half-dose DE-VM images (p ≥ 0.05; 1.19 vs. 1.24-1.32). However, SE-LTP images had less noise and artifacts and were sharper compared to DE-VM images less than 70 keV (p < 0.05). On a per-patient basis, radiologists preferred SE-LTP images the most and preferred 40-50 keV the least (p < 0.0001). Lesion CNR was also higher in SE-LTP images than DE-VM images (p < 0.01)., Conclusion: For the same applied dose level, liver lesions were more conspicuous using DE-VM compared to SE-LTP; however, SE-LTP images were preferred more than any single DE-VM energy level, likely due to lower noise and artifacts.

Purpose: To evaluate the reproducibility and utility of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences for the assessment of kidneys in young adults with normal renal function (eGFR ranged from 90 to 130 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ) and patients with early renal disease (autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease)., Materials and Methods: This prospective case-control study was performed on ten normal young adults (18-30 years old) and ten age- and sex-matched patients with early renal parenchymal disease (autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease). All subjects underwent a comprehensive kidney MRI protocol, including qualitative imaging: T1w, T2w, FIESTA, and quantitative imaging: 2D cine phase contrast of the renal arteries, and parenchymal diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), magnetization transfer imaging (MTI), blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) imaging, and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). The normal controls were imaged on two separate occasions ≥24 h apart (range 24-210 h) to assess reproducibility of the measurements., Results: Quantitative MR imaging sequences were found to be reproducible. The mean ± SD absolute percent difference between quantitative parameters measured ≥24 h apart were: MTI-derived ratio = 4.5 ± 3.6%, DWI-derived apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) = 6.5 ± 3.4%, BOLD-derived R2* = 7.4 ± 5.9%, and MRE-derived tissue stiffness = 7.6 ± 3.3%. Compared with controls, the ADPKD patient's non-cystic renal parenchyma (NCRP) had statistically significant differences with regard to quantitative parenchymal measures: lower MTI percent ratios (16.3 ± 4.4 vs. 23.8 ± 1.2, p < 0.05), higher ADCs (2.46 ± 0.20 vs. 2.18 ± 0.10 × 10 -3  mm 2 /s, p < 0.05), lower R2*s (14.9 ± 1.7 vs. 18.1 ± 1.6 s -1 , p < 0.05), and lower tissue stiffness (3.2 ± 0.3 vs. 3.8 ± 0.5 kPa, p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Excellent reproducibility of the quantitative measurements was obtained in all cases. Significantly different quantitative MR parenchymal measurement parameters between ADPKD patients and normal controls were obtained by MT, DWI, BOLD, and MRE indicating the potential for detecting and following renal disease at an earlier stage than the conventional qualitative imaging techniques.

Purpose: To describe the imaging appearance of hyperenhancing nodules arising in post-Fontan patients and to identify specific features best correlated with malignancy., Methods: Hyperenhancing hepatic nodules visible on CT and/or MRI in post-Fontan patients were identified retrospectively and reviewed by subspecialty radiologists. Nodules with characteristic imaging findings of focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) were defined as typical, the remainder were defined as atypical, described in detail according to LIRADS criteria, and length of stability over time was recorded. Clinical data, alpha fetoprotein levels (AFP), central venous pressures (CVP), and histopathology were recorded., Results: 245 hyperenhancing nodules (215 typical, 30 atypical) were evaluated in 30 patients. Twenty-nine atypical nodules showed washout (portal phase in 6, delayed phase in 29), 0 showed pseudocapsule, 1 showed threshold growth, 1 showed tumor in vein, and 5 showed ancillary features favoring malignancy. Pathology confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 3 atypical nodules and FNH-like histology in 3 atypical and 4 typical nodules. 2 atypical nodules were present in a patient with clinical diagnosis of HCC. 20 nodules (7 typical, 13 atypical due to washout) were studied with hepatobiliary contrast agent and all showed homogenous hepatobiliary phase retention. Atypical nodules were significantly more likely to be HCC than biopsy-proven FNH-like or stable ≥24 months when showing portal phase washout (P < 0.001), mosaic architecture (P = 0.020) or in the presence of cirrhosis (P = 0.004) or elevated AFP (P = 0.004). Atypical nodules that were HCC had higher median CVP than those that were FNH-like (19, range 16-27 vs. 13, range 12-16 mmHg, P = 0.0003), there was not a significant difference based on median patient age (HCC 30, range 10-41 vs. FNH-like 40 range 10-41, P = 0.244)., Conclusions: Benign hyperenhancing masses in Fontan patients may demonstrate washout and be mistaken for HCC by imaging criteria. Portal phase washout, mosaic architecture, elevated AFP and higher CVP were associated with HCC in the atypical nodules found in this population.

Purpose: To evaluate the imaging features of hepatic segmental atrophy and nodular elastosis., Materials and Methods: In this Institutional review board (IRB)-approved, HIPAA-compliant study, we reviewed imaging features in six cases of histologically confirmed hepatic segmental atrophy (HSA) and nodular elastosis (NE). Retrospective review of ultrasound (US) in 2 patients, computed tomography (CT) in 5 patients, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 4 patients, and positron emission tomography (PET) in 2 patients was performed. Location, size, and attenuation/density/signal intensity of these lesions were evaluated. Clinical presentation and coexistent conditions were also recorded., Results: All six patients were females. Mean age of presentation was 58.3 years (range 37-80). A single HSA and NE lesion in each patient was found. The mean size of the lesion was 18 mm (range: 3 mm to 36 mm). Most lesions were detected incidentally (5/6). On contrast-enhanced single-phase (portal venous) CT, most lesions were hypodense (4/5) and one lesion was hyperdense to fatty liver parenchyma. On MRI, the lesions were iso- to hyperintense on T2-weighted images, T1 hypointense, and hyperintense on diffusion-weighted images (DWI). Three lesions were hypointense on arterial, portal venous, and delayed phases. One lesion occurring in fatty liver appeared hyperintense on all three phases. Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced images were available in 2 patients and lesions were hypointense on the 20-min hepatobiliary phase. On PET, two lesions were isometabolic to the background hepatic parenchyma. On ultrasound, one lesion appeared hypoechoic and another lesion isoechoic to hepatic parenchyma., Conclusions: Hepatic segmental atrophy and nodular elastosis is an uncommon benign lesion and can simulate metastases due to variable imaging features. Lack of FDG uptake on PET/CT may be a clue to the benign nature of the lesion and may suggest the possibility of HSA and NE.

Hepatic fibrosis is potentially reversible; however early diagnosis is necessary for treatment in order to halt progression to cirrhosis and development of complications including portal hypertension and hepatocellular carcinoma. Morphologic signs of cirrhosis on ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alone are unreliable and are seen with more advanced disease. Newer imaging techniques to diagnose liver fibrosis are reliable and accurate, and include magnetic resonance elastography and US elastography (one-dimensional transient elastography and point shear wave elastography or acoustic radiation force impulse imaging). Research is ongoing with multiple other techniques for the noninvasive diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis, including MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging, hepatobiliary contrast enhancement, and perfusion; CT using perfusion, fractional extracellular space techniques, and dual-energy, contrast-enhanced US, texture analysis in multiple modalities, quantitative mapping, and direct molecular imaging probes. Efforts to advance the noninvasive imaging assessment of hepatic fibrosis will facilitate earlier diagnosis and improve patient monitoring with the goal of preventing the progression to cirrhosis and its complications.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common cause of chronic liver disease and affects nearly one-third of US population. With the increasing trend of obesity in the population, associated fatty change in the liver will be a common feature observed in imaging studies. Fatty liver causes changes in liver parenchyma appearance on imaging modalities including ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and may affect the imaging characteristics of focal liver lesions (FLLs). The imaging characteristics of FLLs were classically described in a non-fatty liver. In addition, focal fatty change and focal fat sparing may also simulate FLLs. Knowledge of characteristic patterns of fatty change in the liver (diffuse, geographical, focal, subcapsular, and perivascular) and their impact on the detection and characterization of FLL is therefore important. In general, fatty change may improve detection of FLLs on MRI using fat suppression sequences, but may reduce sensitivity on a single-phase (portal venous) CT and conventional ultrasound. In patients with fatty liver, MRI is generally superior to ultrasound and CT for detection and characterization of FLL. In this pictorial essay, we describe the imaging patterns of fatty change in the liver and its effect on detection and characterization of FLLs on ultrasound, CT, MRI, and PET.

Purpose: To compare MR hepatic fractional extracellular space (fECS) to liver stiffness (LS) with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for evaluation of liver fibrosis., Methods and Materials: 71 consecutive patients with suspected chronic liver disease underwent standard liver MRI with MR elastography and additional delayed Gd-DTPA-enhanced sequences at 5 and 10 min in order to calculate hepatic fECS (%) and LS (kilopascals, kPa). Two radiologists blinded to clinical history examined MR images and calculated fECS and LS in identical locations for every patient. Interobserver agreement was calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Pearson's correlation was calculated for LS and fECS measures, as was the area under the receiver operatic curve (AUROC), sensitivity and specificity of fECS to predict liver stiffness ≥2.93 and ≥5 kPa. The sensitivity of fECS for detecting fibrosis was separately analyzed in the subgroup of patients without anatomic findings of cirrhosis., Results: Substantial to excellent interobserver agreement for both LS and fECS measurements was seen with intraclass correlation of 0.88 (95% CI 0.81-0.92) for LS, 0.77 (95% CI 0.66-0.85) for fECS 5 and 0.76 (95% CI 0.64-0.84) for fECS 10 . A significant correlation was found between MRE and fECS 5 (r = 0.47, p < 0.0001) and fECS 10 (r = 0.44, p < 0.0001). The performance of fECS improved for detection of advanced fibrosis (≥5 kPa) with AUROC, sensitivity and specificity of 0.72, 38%, and 94% for fECS 5 and 0.72, 67%, and 66% for fECS 10 ., Conclusion: fECS correlates modestly with MRE-determined LS. fECS at MRI is a simple calculation to perform and may represent a practical way to suggest the presence of fibrosis during routine liver evaluation., Competing Interests: There is no conflict of interest.

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an uncommon, chronic inflammatory, and relapsing liver disease of unknown origin that may lead to liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplantation, or death. AIH occurs in all age groups and races but can frequently manifest as acute fulminant hepatitis. Clinical presentation of AIH can have features similar to primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), and these diseases may coexist leading to overlap syndromes. Although histological diagnosis is necessary, imaging features often can demonstrate characteristics that may be helpful to distinguish these diseases. Imaging features of AIH are those of chronic liver disease, and imaging plays important role in detection of complications and ruling out other possible causes of chronic liver disease. Emerging techniques such as elastography provide non-invasive options for diagnosis of significant fibrosis and cirrhosis during clinical follow-up as well as assessment of response to treatment. In this study, we will describe imaging findings in AIH and overlap syndromes.

Purpose: To describe the imaging appearance of myxoid hepatocellular neoplasms (MHNs), including adenomas and carcinomas, a recently described pathologically unique tumor variant., Materials and Methods: Single-institution review of pathologically proven MHNs revealed 4 patients with imaging prior to resection. All available cross-sectional imaging was then retrospectively reviewed in consensus using specified descriptive characteristics previously published for hepatocellular adenoma subtypes. Imaging characteristics on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound (US), and computed tomography (CT) were reviewed., Results: MHNs were predominantly markedly T2 hyperintense with thin internal septations, circumscribed with lobulated margins, and demonstrated heterogeneous enhancement on arterial phase that became more homogenous on delayed phases. The lesions were hypodense on CT with similar enhancement characteristics as on MRI. On US, they were mildly hyperechoic and heterogeneous with posterior acoustic enhancement., Conclusion: MHNs show distinct imaging features that may allow accurate noninvasive diagnosis and differentiation from other hepatic lesions, including cavernous hemangioma, focal nodular hyperplasia, and other variants of hepatocellular adenoma or carcinoma. Differentiation between benign and malignant MHN may not be possible by imaging, possibly necessitating earlier definitive therapy or surgical management.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is a noninvasive treatment technique for selected patients with primary liver tumors and liver-confined oligometastatic disease. Recently, SBRT has emerged as an alternative treatment option in non-surgical candidates and in whom percutaneous treatment methods are not possible or contraindicated. The experience with SBRT continues to grow. There are currently no imaging guidelines for assessment of tumor response and follow-up schedule following SBRT. SBRT produces characteristic radiation-induced changes in the treated tumor and surrounding liver parenchyma. Knowledge of these changes is essential in the interpretation of follow-up imaging and assessment of treatment response. In this review, we will describe the CT, MRI, and PET imaging findings following SBRT of both the targeted liver tumor and surrounding hepatic parenchyma.

It is critical to assess the degree of liver fibrosis for clinical management. However, liver biopsy has many drawbacks and is invasive. Promising non-invasive methods including serum markers and new imaging studies to predict liver fibrosis have been developed in past decades. This editorial provides a succinct overview and update of the new non-invasive technologies, especially the three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (3-D MRI) that has been studied by Dr. Kawamura's group in Japan. It also highlights the merit and weakness of this 3D-MRI technology in predicting liver fibrosis and indicates future studies to understand where 3D-MRI fits into the current armamentarium of non-invasive serum-based and imaging technologies.

Purpose: Our aim is to develop an automatic method which can detect diverse focal liver lesions (FLLs) in 3D CT volumes., Method: A hybrid generative-discriminative framework is proposed. It first uses a generative model to describe non-lesion components and then identifies all candidate FLLs within a 3D liver volume by eliminating non-lesion components. It subsequently uses a discriminative approach to suppress false positives with the advantage of tumoroid, a novel measurement combining three shape features spherical symmetry, compactness and size., Results: This method was tested on 71 abdominal CT datasets (5,854 slices from 61 patients, with 261 FLLs covering six pathological types) and evaluated using the free-response receiver operating characteristic (FROC) curves. Overall, it achieved a true positive rate of 90 % with one false positive per liver. It degenerated gently with the decrease in lesion sizes to 30 ml. It achieved a true-positive rate of 36 % when tested on the lesions less than 4 ml. The average computing time of the lesion detection is 4 min and 28 s per CT volume on a PC with 2.67 GHz CPU and 4.0 GB RAM., Conclusions: The proposed method is comparable to the radiologists' visual investigation in terms of efficiency. The tool has great potential to reduce radiologists' burden in going through thousands of images routinely.

Segmentation of the left ventricle is important in the assessment of cardiac functional parameters. Manual segmentation of cardiac cine MR images for acquiring these parameters is time-consuming. Accuracy and automation are the two important criteria in improving cardiac image segmentation methods. In this paper, we present a comprehensive approach to segment the left ventricle from short axis cine cardiac MR images automatically. Our method incorporates a number of image processing and analysis techniques including thresholding, edge detection, mathematical morphology, and image filtering to build an efficient process flow. This process flow makes use of various features in cardiac MR images to achieve high accurate segmentation results. Our method was tested on 45 clinical short axis cine cardiac images and the results are compared with manual delineated ground truth (average perpendicular distance of contours near 2 mm and mean myocardium mass overlapping over 90%). This approach provides cardiac radiologists a practical method for an accurate segmentation of the left ventricle.