Efficacy of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of extrahepatic cholestasis-related hepatic fibrosis

Background/aim: To investigate the efficacy of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) in the diagnosis and staging of fibrosis induced by experimental bile duct ligation (BDL). Materials and methods: Twenty-four rats were divided randomly into four groups: control, BDL - 3 days, BDL - 2 weeks, and BDL - 4 weeks. DWI was performed with b-values of 100 and 500 on the rats from control group at day zero, on the rats from the BDL - 3 days group at the end of day 3, on the rats from the BDL - 2 weeks group at the end of day 14, and on the rats from the BDL - 4 weeks at the end of day 28. Results: When fibrosis scores generated in all groups were evaluated together, a strong negative correlation was detected between fibrosis scores and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values measured using b 100 and b 500. ADC values obtained using b 100 were found to be significantly higher compared to the fibrosis observed in both the BDL - 2 weeks and BDL - 4 weeks groups (P 0.003 and P 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: We think that DWI may be an alternative to liver biopsy for the diagnosis and staging of hepatic fibrosis with underlying extrahepatic cholestasis.