Objectives

Recent studies show two-dimensional (2D)-magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is accurate in diagnosing advanced fibrosis (stages 3 and 4) in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. Three-dimensional (3D)-MRE is a more advanced version of the technology that can image shear-wave fields in 3D of the entire liver. The aim of this study was to prospectively compare the diagnostic accuracy of 3D-MRE and 2D-MRE for diagnosing advanced fibrosis in patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD.

Methods

This cross-sectional analysis of a prospective study included 100 consecutive patients (56% women) with biopsy-proven NAFLD who also underwent MRE. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) analysis was performed to assess the accuracy of 2D- and 3D-MRE in diagnosing advanced fibrosis.

Results

The mean (±s.d.) of age and body mass index were 50.2 (±13.6) years and 32.1 (±5.0) kg/m(2), respectively. The AUROC for diagnosing advanced fibrosis was 0.981 for 3D-MRE at 40 Hz, 0.927 for 3D-MRE at 60 Hz (standard shear-wave frequency), and 0.921 for 2D-MRE at 60 Hz (standard shear-wave frequency). At a threshold of 2.43 kPa, 3D-MRE at 40 Hz had sensitivity 1.0, specificity 0.94, positive predictive value 0.72, and negative predictive value 1.0 for diagnosing advanced fibrosis. 3D-MRE at 40 Hz had significantly higher AUROC (P<0.05) than 2D-MRE at 60 Hz for diagnosing advanced fibrosis.

Conclusions

Utilizing a prospective study design, we demonstrate that 3D MRE at 40 Hz has the highest diagnostic accuracy in diagnosing NAFLD advanced fibrosis. Both 2D- and 3D-MRE at 60 Hz, the standard shear-wave frequency, are also highly accurate in diagnosing NAFLD advanced fibrosis.