MR spectroscopy of liver in overweight children and adolescents: investigation of ¹H T2 relaxation times at 3T

TY - JOUR

T1 - MR spectroscopy of liver in overweight children and adolescents

T2 - investigation of ¹H T2 relaxation times at 3T

AU - Chabanova, Elizaveta

AU - Bille, Dorthe S

AU - Thisted, Ebbe

AU - Holm, Jens-Christian

AU - Thomsen, Henrik S

N1 - Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

PY - 2012/5

Y1 - 2012/5

N2 - Objective: The objective was to investigate T 2 relaxation values and to optimize hepatic fat quantification using proton MR spectroscopy ( 1H MRS) at 3 T in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Subjects: The study included 123 consecutive children and adolescents with a body mass index above the 97th percentile according to age and sex. 1H MR spectroscopy was performed at 3.0 T using point resolved spectroscopy sequence with series TE. T 2 relaxation values and hepatic fat content corrected for the T 2 relaxation effects were calculated. Results: T 2 values for water ranged from 22 ms to 42 ms (mean value 28 ms) and T 2 values for fat ranged from 36 ms to 99 ms (mean value 64 ms). Poor correlation was observed: (1) between T 2 relaxation times of fat and T 2 relaxation times of water (correlation coefficient r = 0.038, P = 0.79); (2) between T 2 relaxation times of fat and fat content (r = 0.057, P = 0.69); (3) between T 2 relaxation times of water and fat content (r = 0.160, P = 0.26). Correlation between fat peak content and the T 2 corrected fat content decreased with increasing echo time TE: r = 0.97 for TE = 45, r = 0.93 for TE = 75, r = 0.89 for TE = 105, P < 0.0001. Conclusion: 1H MRS at 3 T is an effective technique for measuring hepatic fat content in overweight and obese children and adolescents. It is necessary to measure T 2 relaxation values and to correct the spectra for the T 2 relaxation effects in order to obtain an accurate estimate of the hepatic fat content.

AB - Objective: The objective was to investigate T 2 relaxation values and to optimize hepatic fat quantification using proton MR spectroscopy ( 1H MRS) at 3 T in overweight and obese children and adolescents. Subjects: The study included 123 consecutive children and adolescents with a body mass index above the 97th percentile according to age and sex. 1H MR spectroscopy was performed at 3.0 T using point resolved spectroscopy sequence with series TE. T 2 relaxation values and hepatic fat content corrected for the T 2 relaxation effects were calculated. Results: T 2 values for water ranged from 22 ms to 42 ms (mean value 28 ms) and T 2 values for fat ranged from 36 ms to 99 ms (mean value 64 ms). Poor correlation was observed: (1) between T 2 relaxation times of fat and T 2 relaxation times of water (correlation coefficient r = 0.038, P = 0.79); (2) between T 2 relaxation times of fat and fat content (r = 0.057, P = 0.69); (3) between T 2 relaxation times of water and fat content (r = 0.160, P = 0.26). Correlation between fat peak content and the T 2 corrected fat content decreased with increasing echo time TE: r = 0.97 for TE = 45, r = 0.93 for TE = 75, r = 0.89 for TE = 105, P < 0.0001. Conclusion: 1H MRS at 3 T is an effective technique for measuring hepatic fat content in overweight and obese children and adolescents. It is necessary to measure T 2 relaxation values and to correct the spectra for the T 2 relaxation effects in order to obtain an accurate estimate of the hepatic fat content.

U2 - 10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.02.017

DO - 10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.02.017

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 21377308

SN - 1571-4675

VL - 81

SP - 811

EP - 814

JO - European Journal of Radiology Extra

JF - European Journal of Radiology Extra

IS - 5

ER -