Relative enhancement index can be used to quantify liver function in cirrhotic patients that undergo gadoxetic acid–enhanced MRI

Objectives To evaluate MRI with gadoxetic acid to quantify liver function in cirrhotic patients using the relative enhancement index (REI) compared with Child–Pugh score (CPS), MELD score, and indocyanine green plasma disappearance rate (ICG-PDR) and to establish cutoffs for REI to stratify cirrhotic patients into good and poor liver function groups. Methods We prospectively evaluated 60 cirrhotic patients and calculated CPS, MELD score, ICG-PDR, and REI for each patient. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to assess correlation between REI, CPS, MELD, and ICG-PDR. Good and poor liver function groups were created by k-means clustering algorithm using CPS, MELD, and ICG-PDR. ROC curve analysis was performed and optimal cutoff was identified for group differentiation. Results Good correlations were found between REI and other liver function biomarkers: REI and CPS (rho = − 0.816; p