Feasibility and agreement of stiffness measurements using gradient-echo and spin-echo MR elastography sequences in unselected patients undergoing liver MRI

Abstract

In clinical setting, there is a high correlation between the GRE and SE MRE stiffness measurements, independently of the degree of liver fat infiltration measured by PDFF. A strong correlation between SE-MRE sequences is found even in patients with iron overload. Advances in knowledge: Our study addresses liver iron and fat content simultaneously to describing the technical feasibility and correlation between different MRE sequences in consecutive unselected patients refereed for liver MRI. EPI SE-MRE should be considered an optimal alternative to assess liver fibrosis in patients in whom GRE-MRE failures, such as iron-overloaded, in pediatric, elderly, or severely ill populations.