Initial clinical application of modified Dixon with flexible echo times: hepatic and pancreatic fat assessments in comparison with 1H MRS

Objects Hepatic and pancreatic fat content become increasingly important for phenotyping of individuals with metabolic diseases. This study aimed to (1) evaluate hepatic fat fractions (HFF) and pancreatic fat fractions (PFF) using 1 H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and the recently introduced fast mDixon method, and to examine body fat effects on HFF and PFF, (2) investigate regional differences in HFF and PFF by mDixon. Materials and methods HFF and PFF were quantified by mDixon with two flexible echo times and by single voxel 1 H MRS in 24 healthy subjects. The regional differences of PFF within the pancreas were assessed with mDixon. Abdominal visceral and subcutaneous fat was assessed by T1-weighted MRI at 3T. Results Both methods correlated well for quantification of HFF ( r = 0.98, p