Share：
Share this content in WeChat
X
[Chinese][PDF]4581
• Review •
Research progress of magnetic resonance elastography in liver focal lesions
CHEN Congyan  LU Yancen  CHEN Xuxiao  CHEN Yongjun 

Cite this article as: CHEN C Y, LU Y C, CHEN X X, et al. Research progress of magnetic resonance elastography in liver focal lesions[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2023, 14(4): 176-180. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2023.04.031.


[Abstract] Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), as an imaging technique for quantitative assessment of mechanical properties of tissues, is widely applied in clinical practice for its non-invasive, accuracy, and reproducibility, and has become an important diagnostic tool for chronic liver diseases. However, its application in liver focal lesions is relatively limited. A number of clinical studies have confirmed the diagnostic efficacy of MRE in differentiating liver focal lesions, as well as its good predictive role in the short and long-term prognosis of patients with liver malignant tumor. This article reviews the technique development of MRE, as well as its current research status in the differential diagnosis of liver focal lesions and prognostic assessment of liver malignancy, and provides researchers with ideas to refine further research on MRE in the above-mentioned, and to promote its clinical application.
[Keywords] liver；focal lesions；magnetic resonance imaging；magnetic resonance elastography；diagnosis；prognosis

CHEN Congyan   LU Yancen   CHEN Xuxiao   CHEN Yongjun*  

Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China

Corresponding author: Chen YJ, E-mail: swakchenyj@hotmail.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81902961).
Received  2022-10-28
Accepted  2023-04-07
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2023.04.031
Cite this article as: CHEN C Y, LU Y C, CHEN X X, et al. Research progress of magnetic resonance elastography in liver focal lesions[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2023, 14(4): 176-180. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2023.04.031.

[1]
MUTHUPILLAI R, LOMAS D J, ROSSMAN P J, et al. Magnetic resonance elastography by direct visualization of propagating acoustic strain waves[J]. Science, 1995, 269(5232): 1854-1857. DOI: 10.1126/science.7569924.
[2]
FU F F, LI X D, CHEN C Y, et al. Non-invasive assessment of hepatic fibrosis: comparison of MR elastography to transient elastography and intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted MRI[J]. Abdom Radiol (NY), 2020, 45(1): 73-82. DOI: 10.1007/s00261-019-02140-x.
[3]
HOFFMAN D H, AYOOLA A, NICKEL D, et al. T1 mapping, T2 mapping and MR elastography of the liver for detection and staging of liver fibrosis[J]. Abdom Radiol (NY), 2020, 45(3): 692-700. DOI: 10.1007/s00261-019-02382-9.
[4]
LI M K, WU X Y, WU B. Research progress of clinical application of the magnetic resonance elastography in chronic liver disease[J/OL]. Chin J Dig Med Imageology Electron Ed, 2021, 11(3): 126-131 [2022-07-28]. https://zhxhbyyxzz.cma-cmc.com.cn/CN/10.3877/cma.j.issn.2095-2015.2021.03.006. DOI: 10.3877/cma.j.issn.2095-2015.2021.03.006.
[5]
IDILMAN I S, LI J H, YIN M, et al. MR elastography of liver: current status and future perspectives[J]. Abdom Radiol (NY), 2020, 45(11): 3444-3462. DOI: 10.1007/s00261-020-02656-7.
[6]
AKKAYA H E, ERDEN A, KURU ÖZ D, et al. Magnetic resonance elastography: basic principles, technique, and clinical applications in the liver[J]. Diagn Interv Radiol, 2018, 24(6): 328-335. DOI: 10.5152/dir.2018.18186.
[7]
PAN Z X, WEN W C, MENG F Q, et al. The reproducibility of liver stiffness from magnetic resonance elastography under confounding factors in patients with chronic liver disease[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2022, 13(7): 35-41. DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2022.07.007.
[8]
LI M K, WAN S Z, WU X Y, et al. Diagnostic performance of elastography on liver fibrosis in antiviral treatment-naive chronic hepatitis B patients: a meta-analysis[J/OL]. Gastroenterol Rep (Oxf), 2022, 10(1): goac005 [2022-07-28]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35186298. DOI: 10.1093/gastro/goac005.
[9]
MAYA-MILES D, AMPUERO J, GALLEGO-DURÁN R, et al. Management of NAFLD patients with advanced fibrosis[J]. Liver Int, 2021, 41(Suppl 1): 95-104. DOI: 10.1111/liv.14847.
[10]
AJMERA V H, LIU A, SINGH S, et al. Clinical utility of an increase in magnetic resonance elastography in predicting fibrosis progression in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease[J]. Hepatology, 2020, 71(3): 849-860. DOI: 10.1002/hep.30974.
[11]
GIDENER T, AHMED O T, LARSON J J, et al. Liver stiffness by magnetic resonance elastography predicts future cirrhosis, decompensation, and death in NAFLD[J/OL]. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2021, 19(9): 1915-1924.e6 [2022-07-28]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33010409/. DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2020.09.044.
[12]
SELVARAJ E A, MÓZES F E, JAYASWAL A N A, et al. Diagnostic accuracy of elastography and magnetic resonance imaging in patients with NAFLD: a systematic review and meta-analysis[J]. J Hepatol, 2021, 75(4): 770-785. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2021.04.044.
[13]
MA Y J, WANG G X, GAO F, et al. Clinical utility of 3D magnetic resonance elastography in patients with biliary obstruction[J]. Eur Radiol, 2022, 32(3): 2050-2059. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-021-08295-w.
[14]
LLOP E, LOPEZ M, DE LA REVILLA J, et al. Validation of noninvasive methods to predict the presence of gastroesophageal varices in a cohort of patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease[J]. J Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2017, 32(11): 1867-1872. DOI: 10.1111/jgh.13781.
[15]
YANG J Y, QIU B S. The advance of magnetic resonance elastography in tumor diagnosis[J/OL]. Front Oncol, 2021, 11: 722703 [2022-07-28]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34532290/. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2021.722703.
[16]
SERAI S D, TROUT A T. Can MR elastography be used to measure liver stiffness in patients with iron overload?[J]. Abdom Radiol (NY), 2019, 44(1): 104-109. DOI: 10.1007/s00261-018-1723-9.
[17]
KIM D W, KIM S Y, YOON H M, et al. Comparison of technical failure of MR elastography for measuring liver stiffness between gradient-recalled echo and spin-echo echo-planar imaging: a systematic review and meta-analysis[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2020, 51(4): 1086-1102. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.26918.
[18]
CHOI S L, LEE E S, KO A, et al. Technical success rates and reliability of spin-echo echo-planar imaging (SE-EPI) MR elastography in patients with chronic liver disease or liver cirrhosis[J]. Eur Radiol, 2020, 30(3): 1730-1737. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-019-06496-y.
[19]
CATANIA R, LOPES VENDRAMI C, BOLSTER B D, et al. Intra-patient comparison of 3D and 2D magnetic resonance elastography techniques for assessment of liver stiffness[J]. Abdom Radiol (NY), 2022, 47(3): 998-1008. DOI: 10.1007/s00261-021-03355-7.
[20]
LI M S, YANG H, LIU Y, et al. Comparison of the diagnostic performance of 2D and 3D MR elastography in staging liver fibrosis[J]. Eur Radiol, 2021, 31(12): 9468-9478. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-021-08053-y.
[21]
WAGNER M, BESA C, AYACHE J BOU, et al. Magnetic resonance elastography of the liver: qualitative and quantitative comparison of gradient echo and spin echo echoplanar imaging sequences[J]. Invest Radiol, 2016, 51(9): 575-581. DOI: 10.1097/RLI.0000000000000269.
[22]
REZVANI HABIBABADI R, KHOSHPOURI P, GHADIMI M, et al. Comparison between ROI-based and volumetric measurements in quantifying heterogeneity of liver stiffness using MR elastography[J]. Eur Radiol, 2020, 30(3): 1609-1615. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-019-06478-0.
[23]
HONG S B, CHOI S H, KIM S Y, et al. MRI features for predicting microvascular invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis[J]. Liver Cancer, 2021, 10(2): 94-106. DOI: 10.1159/000513704.
[24]
LIU Y N, XU Y K, DENG S Y, et al. Research progress in radiomics based on CT and MRI images for prediction of microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma[J]. Chin J Hepatol, 2022, 30(8): 809-813. DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.cn501113-20220628-00359.
[25]
WANG H Q, ZENG M S, RAO S X, et al. Radiomic features to predict microvascular invasion in hepatocellular carcinoma based on conventional MRI: preliminary findings[J]. Chin J Radiol, 2019, 53(4): 292-298. DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1005-1201.2019.04.010.
[26]
YIN M. Normal liver stiffness values in children are the same as in adults[J]. Radiology, 2020, 297(3): 670-671. DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2020203515.
[27]
VENKATESH S K, WANG G, TEO L L, et al. Magnetic resonance elastography of liver in healthy Asians: normal liver stiffness quantification and reproducibility assessment[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2014, 39(1): 1-8. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.24084.
[28]
BAE J S, LEE J M, PARK S J, et al. Magnetic resonance elastography of healthy livers at 3.0 T: normal liver stiffness measured by SE-EPI and GRE[J]. Eur J Radiol, 2018, 107: 46-53. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2018.08.015.
[29]
TROUT A T, ANUPINDI S A, GEE M S, et al. Normal liver stiffness measured with MR elastography in children[J]. Radiology, 2020, 297(3): 663-669. DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2020201513.
[30]
SAWH M C, NEWTON K P, GOYAL N P, et al. Normal range for MR elastography measured liver stiffness in children without liver disease[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2020, 51(3): 919-927. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.26905.
[31]
PASZEK M J, ZAHIR N, JOHNSON K R, et al. Tensional homeostasis and the malignant phenotype[J]. Cancer Cell, 2005, 8(3): 241-254. DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2005.08.010.
[32]
GRGUREVIC I, BOKUN T, SALKIC N N, et al. Liver elastography malignancy prediction score for noninvasive characterization of focal liver lesions[J]. Liver Int, 2018, 38(6): 1055-1063. DOI: 10.1111/liv.13611.
[33]
PARK S J, YOON J H, LEE D H, et al. Tumor stiffness measurements on MR elastography for single nodular hepatocellular carcinomas can predict tumor recurrence after hepatic resection[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2021, 53(2): 587-596. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.27359.
[34]
VENKATESH S K, YIN M, EHMAN R L. Magnetic resonance elastography of liver: clinical applications[J]. J Comput Assist Tomogr, 2013, 37(6): 887-896. DOI: 10.1097/RCT.0000000000000032.
[35]
VENKATESH S K, YIN M, GLOCKNER J F, et al. MR elastography of liver tumors: preliminary results[J]. AJR Am J Roentgenol, 2008, 190(6): 1534-1540. DOI: 10.2214/AJR.07.3123.
[36]
HE H Q, XU G X, LIU H M, et al. Preliminary study of MR elastography for differentiating hepatic focal benign and malignant tumors[J]. J Pract Radiol, 2017, 33(2): 230-233. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1002-1671.2017.02.017.
[37]
GARTEISER P, DOBLAS S, DAIRE J L, et al. MR elastography of liver tumours: value of viscoelastic properties for tumour characterisation[J]. Eur Radiol, 2012, 22(10): 2169-2177. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-012-2474-6.
[38]
HENNEDIGE T P, HALLINAN J T, LEUNG F P, et al. Comparison of magnetic resonance elastography and diffusion-weighted imaging for differentiating benign and malignant liver lesions[J]. Eur Radiol, 2016, 26(2): 398-406. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-015-3835-8.
[39]
SINGH S, FUJII LL, MURAD MH, et al. Liver stiffness is associated with risk of decompensation, liver cancer, and death in patients with chronic liver diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis[J/OL]. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2013, 11(12): 1573-1584.e2 [2022-07-28]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23954643. DOI: 10.1016/j.cgh.2013.07.034.
[40]
ICHIKAWA S, MOTOSUGI U, ENOMOTO N, et al. Magnetic resonance elastography can predict development of hepatocellular carcinoma with longitudinally acquired two-point data[J]. Eur Radiol, 2019, 29(2): 1013-1021. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-018-5640-7.
[41]
ANAPARTHY R, TALWALKAR J A, YIN M, et al. Liver stiffness measurement by magnetic resonance elastography is not associated with developing hepatocellular carcinoma in subjects with compensated cirrhosis[J]. Aliment Pharmacol Ther, 2011, 34(1): 83-91. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2011.04673.x.
[42]
LEE J S, LEE H W, LIM T S, et al. Novel liver stiffness-based nomogram for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma risk in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection initiating antiviral therapy[J/OL]. Cancers (Basel), 2021, 13(23): 5892 [2022-07-28]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34885000. DOI: 10.3390/cancers13235892.
[43]
WANG J, SHAN Q G, LIU Y, et al. 3D MR elastography of hepatocellular carcinomas as a potential biomarker for predicting tumor recurrence[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2019, 49(3): 719-730. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.26250.
[44]
LI Z T, DENG D L, LIU H B, et al. MR elastography in diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and evaluation of its pathological differentiation[J]. Chin J Interv Imaging Ther, 2022, 19(10): 645-648. DOI: 10.13929/j.issn.1672-8475.2022.10.009.
[45]
YAO B W, NIU Y S, LI Y Z, et al. High-matrix-stiffness induces promotion of hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation and suppression of apoptosis via miR-3682-3p-PHLDA1-FAS pathway[J]. J Cancer, 2020, 11(21): 6188-6203. DOI: 10.7150/jca.45998.
[46]
DONG Y Y, ZHENG Q D, WANG Z M, et al. Higher matrix stiffness as an independent initiator triggers epithelial-mesenchymal transition and facilitates HCC metastasis[J/OL]. J Hematol Oncol, 2019, 12(1): 112 [2022-07-28]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6839087. DOI: 10.1186/s13045-019-0795-5.
[47]
ABE H, MIDORIKAWA Y, MITSUKA Y, et al. Predicting postoperative outcomes of liver resection by magnetic resonance elastography[J]. Surgery, 2017, 162(2): 248-255. DOI: 10.1016/j.surg.2017.02.014.
[48]
ABE H, MIDORIKAWA Y, HIGAKI T, et al. Magnetic resonance elastography-based prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after curative resection[J]. Surgery, 2021, 170(1): 167-172. DOI: 10.1016/j.surg.2021.02.027.
[49]
LEE D H, LEE J M, YI N J, et al. Hepatic stiffness measurement by using MR elastography: prognostic values after hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma[J]. Eur Radiol, 2017, 27(4): 1713-1721. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-016-4499-8.
[50]
KIM B, KIM S S, CHO S W, et al. Liver stiffness in magnetic resonance elastography is prognostic for sorafenib-treated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma[J]. Eur Radiol, 2021, 31(4): 2507-2517. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-020-07357-9.
[51]
ZHANG L N, CHEN J B, JIANG H, et al. MR elastography as a biomarker for prediction of early and late recurrence in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma patients before hepatectomy[J/OL]. Eur J Radiol, 2022, 152: 110340 [2022-07-28]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35580445. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110340.
[52]
THOMPSON S M, WANG J, CHANDAN V S, et al. MR elastography of hepatocellular carcinoma: correlation of tumor stiffness with histopathology features-Preliminary findings[J]. Magn Reson Imaging, 2017, 37: 41-45. DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2016.11.005.

PREV Application and research progress of MRI in diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of breast cancer
NEXT Research progress of MRI in activity evaluation and follow-up of perianal fistulizing Crohn,s disease
  


LINK


Tel & Fax: +8610-67113815    E-mail: editor@cjmri.cn