Gd-EOB-DTPA T1 Mapping with Extracellular Volume Fraction in Staging Liver Fibrosis: A Preclinical Investigation

To investigate the value of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced T1 mapping with the extracellular volume (ECV) fraction in diagnosing and staging liver fibrosis (LF) in a CCl 4 -induced rabbit model. Eighty New Zealand white rabbits were injected with CCl 4 50% oil solution to establish an LF model, and 20 rabbits served injected with saline as controls. Modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) T1 mapping was performed at precontrast and at the 10-min and 20-min hepatobiliary phases (HBPs). T1 native , T1 10min , T1 20min , ECV 10min , and ECV 20min were calculated, and these parameters were compared among different LF stages using histopathological results as a reference standard. Spearman’s correlation coefficients and receiver-operating characteristic curve analyses were performed. The numbers of rabbits was 17, 20, 15, 16, and 17 for F0, F1, F2, F3, and F4, respectively. Regarding LF progression, strong positive correlations were found with T1 20min and ECV 20min ( r = 0.841 and 0.788, respectively), and moderate correlations were observed with T1 10min and ECV 10min ( r = 0.693 and 0.654, respectively), while only a weak correlation was found with T1 native ( r = 0.255). Both T1 20min and T1 10min performed better in staging LF, with significant AUC differences in distinguishing ≥ F2, ≥ F3, and ≥ F4 (all P 0.05). ECV 20min demonstrated better diagnostic value than ECV 10min in distinguishing LF stage. Imaging parameters derived from Gd-EOB-DTPA T1 mapping and the extracellular volume fraction provide reliable biomarkers in staging LF, particularly for T1 20min .