Diurnal Variation of Proton Density Fat Fraction in the Liver Using Quantitative Chemical Shift Encoded MRI.

Background: Whole-organ, noninvasive techniques for the detection and quantification of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease features have clinical and research applications. However, the effect of time of day, hydration status, and meals are unknown factors with potential to impact bias, precision, reproducibility, and repeatability of chemical shift-encoded MRI (CSE-MRI) to quantify liver proton density fat fraction (PDFF).

Purpose: To assess the effect of diurnal variation on PDFF using CSE-MRI, including the effect of time of day, the effect of meals and hydration status, as well as the day to day variability.