MRI shows liver fibrosis may be linked to cardiovascular disease
In a multiethnic cohort study published March 9 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, researchers found liver fibrosis may be strongly associated with a patient's history of heart failure, atrial fibrillation or coronary heart disease.
Additionally, the link between liver fibrosis and coronary heart disease is partly due to atherosclerosis, according to the researchers.
"The design of this study was cross-sectional with no potential for causal or temporal inferences, but the results of this study highlight the need for further prospective studies on the use of T1-mapping MRI for the assessment of early-stage liver fibrosis as the most amenable stage to medical management in relation to cardiovascular disease," the researchers wrote.
Led by Mohammad Ostovaneh, MD, MPH, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the study included 2,087 qualified participants, whom all were free of cardiovascular disease at baseline, between 2000 and 2002. A decade after the study began, a subsample of participants underwent T1 mapping MRI examinations between 2010 and 2012 and liver T1 maps were generated, according to study methods.
"Liver T1 maps were generated avoiding vessels and biliary ducts from which native T1 and extracellular volume fraction were determined. Higher extracellular volume fraction and native T1 were indicators of liver fibrosis," Ostovaneh et al. wrote.
The average age of participants was 69 years with 46 percent participants identifying as male. In total, 153 participants had previously experienced cardiovascular disease events at the time of MRI examination. Additional results of the study included the following:
- History of cardiovascular disease events was associated with 18.5 ms higher liver native T1 (P<0.001) and 1.4 percent greater extracellular volume fraction (P=0.06).
- Prior atrial fibrillation was related to higher liver native T1 (β=21.1; P=0.001) and greater extracellular volume fraction (β=2.2; P=0.02), whereas previous heart failure was associated with greater liver extracellular volume fraction (β=4.1; P=0.02).
- There was a relationship of prior coronary heart disease with liver native T1 (β=13; P=0.05) and extracellular volume fraction (β=1.9; P=0.05), which was attenuated by adjustment for coronary artery calcium score (β=7.1 and 1.6; P=0.37 and 0.13).
A recent graduate from Dominican University (IL) with a bachelor’s in journalism, Melissa joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering all aspects of health imaging. She’s a fan of singing and playing guitar, elephants, a good cup of tea, and her golden retriever Cooper.