Assessment of Liver Fibrosis Stage Using Integrative Analysis of Hepatic Heterogeneity and Nodularity in Routine MRI with FIB-4 Index as Reference Standard

Image-based quantitative methods for liver heterogeneity (L ) and nodularity (L ) provide helpful information for evaluating liver fibrosis; however, their combinations are not fully understood in liver diseases. We developed an integrated software for assessing L and L and compared L and L according to fibrosis stages in chronic liver disease (CLD). Overall, 111 CLD patients and 16 subjects with suspected liver disease who underwent liver biopsy were enrolled. The procedures for quantifying L and L were bias correction, contour detection, liver segmentation, and L and L measurements. L and L scores among fibrosis stages (F0-F3) were compared using ANOVA with Tukey's test. Diagnostic accuracy was determined by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) curve. The mean L scores of F0, F1, F2, and F3 were 3.49 ± 0.34, 5.52 ± 0.88, 6.80 ± 0.97, and 7.56 ± 1.79, respectively ( < 0.001). The mean L scores of F0, F1, F2, and F3 were 0.84 ± 0.06, 0.91 ± 0.04, 1.09 ± 0.08, and 1.15 ± 0.14, respectively ( < 0.001). The combined L × L scores of F0, F1, F2, and F3 were 2.96 ± 0.46, 5.01 ± 0.91, 7.30 ± 0.89, and 8.48 ± 1.34, respectively ( < 0.001). The AUROCs of L , L , and L × L for differentiating F1 vs. F2 and F2 vs. F3 were 0.845, 0.958, and 0.954; and 0.619, 0.689, and 0.761, respectively. The combination of L and L scores derived from routine MR images allows better differential diagnosis of fibrosis subgroups in CLD.