Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Clinical Medicine, cilt.14, sa.22, 2025 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Background/Objectives: To investigate the role of hepatobiliary phase (HBP) signal intensity (SI) on Gadoxetic acid (GA)-enhanced liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in improving the diagnostic accuracy of the histological grade of fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients with CHB who underwent biopsies from the highest and lowest intensity areas identified on HBP images obtained from GA-enhanced MRI. The patients were divided into two groups based on segmental SIs: Group 1 (maximum SI) and Group 2 (minimum SI). An ultrasound-guided tru-cut biopsy was performed in these two segments. Forty patients undergoing histopathological examination were included in the study. Group comparisons were examined using Chi-square and independent-sample t-tests, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (ROC) was performed to determine the cutoff values of the SI for modified histologic activity index (mHAI) and fibrosis grading. Results: There were no histopathological differences between the groups (p > 0.05), but significant inflammation and fibrosis were observed in hepatic segments with an SI value of <617 (p < 0.001). The ROC results showed that the predictive cutoff value of SI for mHAI and fibrosis grading were 606 (AUC: 0.83, 95% CI 0.737–0.921, p < 0.001) and 599 (AUC: 0.85, 95% CI 0.766–0.935, p < 0.001), respectively. Conclusions: In patients with CHB, performing a biopsy from the liver segment with the lowest SI on GA-enhanced MRI increases the diagnostic accuracy for assessing the histological severity of hepatic inflammation and fibrosis.