Objectives: To compare complex quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with MR spectroscopy (MRS) for quantification of hepatic steatosis (HS) and determine clinically significant MRI-based thresholds of HS in female youths.
Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in 132 healthy females (11-22 years, mean 13.3 ± 2). Proton density fat-fraction (PDFF) was measured using complex quantitative MRI and MRS. Body mass index (BMI), fasting labs [glucose, insulin, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and other metabolic markers] were obtained. Outcomes were measured using regression analysis, Spearman-rank correlation, and receiver operator characteristics (ROC) analysis. HS was defined as MRI-PDFF >5.6%.
Results: HS was detected by MRI-PDFF in 15% of all subjects. Linear regression demonstrated excellent correlation and agreement [r(2) = 0.96, slope = 0.97 (95 %CI: 0.94-1.00), intercept = 0.78% (95 %CI: 0.58-0.98%)] between MRI-PDFF and MRS-PDFF. MRI-PDFF had a sensitivity of 100% (95 %CI: 0.79-1.00), specificity of 96.6% (95 %CI: 0.91-0.99), and a kappa index of 87% (95 %CI: 0.75-0.99) for identifying HS. In overweight subjects with HS, MRI-PDFF correlated with ALT (r = 0.84, p < 0.0001) and insulin (r = 0.833, p < 0.001), but not with BMI or WC. ROC analysis ascertained an optimal MRI-PDFF threshold of 3.5% for predicting metabolic syndrome (sensitivity = 76 %, specificity = 83 %).
Conclusion: Complex quantitative MRI demonstrates strong correlation and agreement with MRS to quantify hepatic triglyceride content in adolescent girls and young women. A low PDFF threshold is predictive of metabolic syndrome in this population.
Key points: • Confounder-corrected quantitative MRI (ccqMRI) effectively measures hepatic triglyceride content in adolescent girls. • MRS and ccqMRI strongly correlate in liver proton density fat-fraction (PDFF) detection. • A PDFF threshold of 3.5% may be predictive of paediatric metabolic syndrome.