Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI with Gd-EOB-DTPA for the quantitative assessment of early-stage liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in rabbits.

Purpose: To explore quantitative parameters obtained by dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE MRI) with Gd-EOB-DTPA in discriminating early-stage liver fibrosis (LF) in a rabbit model.

Materials And Methods: LF was established in 60 rabbits by the injection of 50% CCl oil solution, whereas 30 rabbits served as the control group. All rabbits underwent pathological examination to determine the LF stage using the METAVIR classification system. DCE MRI was performed, and quantitative parameters, including K, K, V, V and Re were measured and evaluated among the different LF stages using spearman correlation coefficients and receiver operating characteristic curve.

Results: In all, 24, 25, and 22 rabbits had stage F0, stage F1, and stage F2 LF, respectively. K (r = 0.803) increased, and K (r = -0.495) and Re (r = -0.701) decreased with LF stage progression (P < 0.001), while no significant correlation was found for V or V. K and Re were significantly different between all LF stage pairs compared (F0 vs. F1, F0 vs. F2, F1 vs. F2, F0 vs. F1-F2, P < 0.05). With the exception of F0 vs. F1, K differed significantly between stages (P < 0.05). The AUC of K was higher than that of other quantitative parameters, with an AUC of 0.92, 0.99, 0.94 and 0.92 for staging F0 vs. F1, F0 vs. F2, F1 vs. F2, and F0 vs. F1-F2, respectively.

Conclusion: Among quantitative parameters of Gd-EOB-DTPA DCE MRI, K was the best predictor for quantitatively differentiating early-stage LF.