TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical Utility of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Biomarkers for Identifying Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Patients at High Risk of Progression
T2 - A Multicenter Pooled Data and Meta-Analysis
AU - Andersson, Anneli
AU - Kelly, Matt
AU - Imajo, Kento
AU - Nakajima, Atsushi
AU - Fallowfield, Jonathan A.
AU - Hirschfield, Gideon
AU - Pavlides, Michael
AU - Sanyal, Arun J.
AU - Noureddin, Mazen
AU - Banerjee, Rajarshi
AU - Dennis, Andrea
AU - Harrison, Stephen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the AGA Institute
PY - 2022/11
Y1 - 2022/11
N2 - Background & Aims: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing in prevalence worldwide. NAFLD is associated with excess risk of all-cause mortality, and its progression to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis accounts for a growing proportion of cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer and thus is a leading cause of liver transplant worldwide. Noninvasive precise methods to identify patients with NASH and NASH with significant disease activity and fibrosis are crucial when the disease is still modifiable. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical utility of corrected T1 (cT1) vs magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) liver fat for identification of NASH participants with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score ≥4 and fibrosis stage (F) ≥2 (high-risk NASH). Methods: Data from five clinical studies (n = 543) with participants suspected of NAFLD were pooled or used for individual participant data meta-analysis. The diagnostic accuracy of the MRI biomarkers to stratify NASH patients was determined using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results: A stepwise increase in cT1 and MRI liver fat with increased NAFLD severity was shown, and cT1 was significantly higher in participants with high-risk NASH. The diagnostic accuracy (AUROC) of cT1 to identify patients with NASH was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.74–0.82), for liver fat was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.73–0.82), and when combined with MRI liver fat was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.78–0.85). The diagnostic accuracy of cT1 to identify patients with high-risk NASH was good (AUROC = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.74–0.82), was superior to MRI liver fat (AUROC = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.64–0.74), and was not substantially improved by combining it with MRI liver fat (AUROC = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.75–0.83). The meta-analysis showed similar performance to the pooled analysis for these biomarkers. Conclusions: This study shows that quantitative MRI-derived biomarkers cT1 and liver fat are suitable for identifying patients with NASH, and cT1 is a better noninvasive technology than liver fat to identify NASH patients at greatest risk of disease progression. Therefore, MRI cT1 and liver fat have important clinical utility to help guide the appropriate use of interventions in NAFLD and NASH clinical care pathways.
AB - Background & Aims: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasing in prevalence worldwide. NAFLD is associated with excess risk of all-cause mortality, and its progression to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis accounts for a growing proportion of cirrhosis and hepatocellular cancer and thus is a leading cause of liver transplant worldwide. Noninvasive precise methods to identify patients with NASH and NASH with significant disease activity and fibrosis are crucial when the disease is still modifiable. The aim of this study was to examine the clinical utility of corrected T1 (cT1) vs magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) liver fat for identification of NASH participants with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease activity score ≥4 and fibrosis stage (F) ≥2 (high-risk NASH). Methods: Data from five clinical studies (n = 543) with participants suspected of NAFLD were pooled or used for individual participant data meta-analysis. The diagnostic accuracy of the MRI biomarkers to stratify NASH patients was determined using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results: A stepwise increase in cT1 and MRI liver fat with increased NAFLD severity was shown, and cT1 was significantly higher in participants with high-risk NASH. The diagnostic accuracy (AUROC) of cT1 to identify patients with NASH was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.74–0.82), for liver fat was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.73–0.82), and when combined with MRI liver fat was 0.82 (95% CI, 0.78–0.85). The diagnostic accuracy of cT1 to identify patients with high-risk NASH was good (AUROC = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.74–0.82), was superior to MRI liver fat (AUROC = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.64–0.74), and was not substantially improved by combining it with MRI liver fat (AUROC = 0.79; 95% CI, 0.75–0.83). The meta-analysis showed similar performance to the pooled analysis for these biomarkers. Conclusions: This study shows that quantitative MRI-derived biomarkers cT1 and liver fat are suitable for identifying patients with NASH, and cT1 is a better noninvasive technology than liver fat to identify NASH patients at greatest risk of disease progression. Therefore, MRI cT1 and liver fat have important clinical utility to help guide the appropriate use of interventions in NAFLD and NASH clinical care pathways.
KW - LiverMultiScan
KW - NAFLD
KW - Noninvasive
KW - PDFF
KW - Quantitative MRI
KW - cT1
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85123089828&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cgh.2021.09.041
DO - 10.1016/j.cgh.2021.09.041
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34626833
AN - SCOPUS:85123089828
SN - 1542-3565
VL - 20
SP - 2451-2461.e3
JO - Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology
JF - Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology
IS - 11
ER -