Dados do Trabalho

Título

Steatosis Grading Comparison Between Qualitative Ultrasonography and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Patients with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

Introdução

Objective: Assess the correlation between the qualitative ultrasonographic score for detecting hepatic steatosis (HS) and liver fat quantification using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS).

Casuística e Métodos

Materials and Methods: 66 patients with known or suspected non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) underwent ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The qualitative ultrasonographic score and fat quantification measured by MRS were the techniques used. We used Kappa coefficient for agreement calculation and Fisher test to assess the normality of the variables. The MRS results were the gold standard for US quality assessment.

Resultados

Results: The agreement between MRS and US was 50% (Kappa 0.35). US results were more severe in 42.4% of the cases, and 66.7% of the patients had a body mass index greater than 30 (p=0.017). For diagnosis of HS, US presented 100% sensitivity, 30.8-60% specificity, 61.7-72.7% accuracy, 40-69.2% false-positive rate, 0% false-negative rate, 53.8% positive predictive value and 100% negative predictive value.

Conclusões

Conclusion: US is a reliable exam for detecting HS, although not for its grading; hence it is not a good predictor of hepatic steatosis severity for the management and follow-up of NAFLD.

Palavras Chave

Fatty liver; Ultrasonography; Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, NAFLD.