Evaluation of two-point Dixon water-fat separation for liver specific contrast-enhanced assessment of liver maximum capacity

Gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging has become a useful tool for quantitative evaluation of liver capacity. We report on the importance of intrahepatic fat on gadoxetic acid-supported T1 mapping for estimation of liver maximum capacity, assessed by the realtime 13C-methacetin breathing test (13C-MBT). For T1 relaxometry, we used a respective T1-weighted sequence with two-point Dixon water-fat separation and various flip angles. Both T1 maps of the in-phase component without fat separation (T1_in) and T1 maps merely based on the water component (T1_W) were generated, and respective reduction rates of the T1 relaxation time (rrT1) were evaluated. A steady considerable decline in rrT1 with progressive reduction of liver function could be observed for both T1_in and T1_W (p < 0.001). When patients were subdivided into 3 different categories of 13C-MBT readouts, the groups could be significantly differentiated by their rrT1_in and rrT1_W values (p < 0.005). In a simple correlation model of 13C-MBT values with T1_inpost (r = 0.556; p < 0.001), T1_Wpost (r = 0.557; p < 0.001), rrT1_in (r = 0.711; p < 0.001) and rrT1_W (r = 0.751; p < 0.001), a log-linear correlation has been shown. Liver maximum capacity measured with 13C-MBT can be determined more precisely from gadoxetic acid-supported T1 mapping when intrahepatic fat is taken into account. Here, T1_W maps are shown to be significantly superior to T1_in maps without separation of fat.