Alcoholic vs. Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis: Vascular Branching Heterogeneity on Magnetic Resonance Imaging as a Diagnostic Marker.

Publication/Presentation Date

6-28-2023

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Distinguishing alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) with biopsy alone is often difficult without a reliable clinical context. A novel finding on liver imaging, perivascular branching heterogeneity, has shown promise in distinguishing between these chronic liver diseases. Our study investigated the role of this finding on imaging to differentiate between ASH and NASH. The aim of this study was to determine the utility and reproducibility of this novel radiographic marker to help distinguish ASH from NASH.

METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted between 2016 and 2020 in patients with both liver biopsy-confirmed steatohepatitis/chronic hepatitis and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging within 13 months of each other. Two radiologists, blinded to patient clinical history and diagnosis, categorized the appearance of the liver as: 1- homogeneity, 2- mild heterogeneity, 3- moderate heterogeneity, 4- possible perivascular branching, 5- definite perivascular branching.

RESULTS: Of the 90 patients in the study, 60 were identified as NASH and 30 as ASH. The area under the curve (AUC) for both reader 1 and 2 when using the 5-point scale was 0.69 (CI: 0.56-0.82,

CONCLUSIONS: Identification of this perivascular branching pattern on imaging is a promising novel diagnostic marker that can be used with other methods to help distinguish between ASH and NASH.

Volume

11

Issue

3

First Page

534

Last Page

539

ISSN

2310-8819

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

36969887

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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