MR spectroscopy of liver in overweight children and adolescents: Investigation of H-1 T-2 relaxation times at 3 T

作者：Chabanova Elizaveta^*; Bille Dorthe S; Thisted Ebbe; Holm Jens Christian; Thomsen Henrik S

来源：European Journal of Radiology, 2012, 81(5): 811-814.

DOI：10.1016/j.ejrad.2011.02.017

• Magnetic resonance
• Spectroscopy
• Relaxation
• Children
• NALFD

Objective: The objective was to investigate T-2 relaxation values and to optimize hepatic fat quantification using proton MR spectroscopy (H-1 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.
H-1 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: H-1 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.

• 出版日期2012-5