TY - JOUR
T1 - Assessment of hepatic fatty infiltration using spectral computed tomography imaging
T2 - A pilot study
AU - Zheng, Xiangpeng
AU - Ren, Yanping
AU - Phillips, William T.
AU - Li, Ming
AU - Song, Meifang
AU - Hua, Yanqing
AU - Zhang, Guozhen
PY - 2013/3/1
Y1 - 2013/3/1
N2 - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using monochromatic spectral computed tomography (CT) imaging to assess fatty infiltration in liver. MATERIALS: With spectral CT imaging, phantoms with known fat concentrations were studied for scanning parameter optimization, then 52 patients enrolled into 4 groups (healthy, mild, moderate, and severe fatty infiltration) received abdominal scanning. Based on reconstructed monochromatic images, hepatic attenuation was analyzed, and dual-energy subtraction imaging (DESI) was created for quantifying fat infiltration. RESULTS: Corresponding to various hepatic fat infiltrations, 4 characteristic CT attenuation curve patterns were described. In DESI images, only fat and fatty components appeared bright. For livers without abnormal fat deposition, isolated bright pixels were visualized (% area = 0.5% ± 0.3%). With hepatic fat accumulation increasing, more bright pixels appeared in subtraction images with percentages of total liver area involved in 2.5%, 6.7%, and 13.4% of mild, moderate, and severe fat infiltration cases, respectively (P < 0.05). The corresponding CT values were as follows: 1.33, 2.53, 8.69, and 16.4 Hounsfield units (P < 0.01), which correlated with the % DESI area values (r = 0.9811). CONCLUSIONS: Spectral CT imaging is a promising method to quantitatively assess hepatic fat content and fatty infiltration with advantages compared with conventional CT imaging.
AB - OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using monochromatic spectral computed tomography (CT) imaging to assess fatty infiltration in liver. MATERIALS: With spectral CT imaging, phantoms with known fat concentrations were studied for scanning parameter optimization, then 52 patients enrolled into 4 groups (healthy, mild, moderate, and severe fatty infiltration) received abdominal scanning. Based on reconstructed monochromatic images, hepatic attenuation was analyzed, and dual-energy subtraction imaging (DESI) was created for quantifying fat infiltration. RESULTS: Corresponding to various hepatic fat infiltrations, 4 characteristic CT attenuation curve patterns were described. In DESI images, only fat and fatty components appeared bright. For livers without abnormal fat deposition, isolated bright pixels were visualized (% area = 0.5% ± 0.3%). With hepatic fat accumulation increasing, more bright pixels appeared in subtraction images with percentages of total liver area involved in 2.5%, 6.7%, and 13.4% of mild, moderate, and severe fat infiltration cases, respectively (P < 0.05). The corresponding CT values were as follows: 1.33, 2.53, 8.69, and 16.4 Hounsfield units (P < 0.01), which correlated with the % DESI area values (r = 0.9811). CONCLUSIONS: Spectral CT imaging is a promising method to quantitatively assess hepatic fat content and fatty infiltration with advantages compared with conventional CT imaging.
KW - Computed tomography
KW - Dual-energy CT
KW - Hepatic steatosis
KW - Spectral imaging
KW - Subtraction imaging
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U2 - 10.1097/RCT.0b013e31827ddad3
DO - 10.1097/RCT.0b013e31827ddad3
M3 - Article
C2 - 23493199
AN - SCOPUS:84875462822
VL - 37
SP - 134
EP - 141
JO - Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography
JF - Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography
SN - 0363-8715
IS - 2
ER -