Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide–mediated Hepatic Signal Intensity Change in Patients with and without Cirrhosis: Pulse Sequence Effects and Kupffer Cell Function

Abstract

Decreased overall phagocytic activity in cirrhotic liver is more likely due to Kupffer cell dysfunction than to Kupffer cell depletion, since magnetic susceptibility effects on T2*-weighted GRE images depend on intracellular SPIO cluster size.