Value of intravoxel incoherent motion in detecting and staging liver fibrosis: A meta-analysis
Zheng Ye, Yi Wei, Jie Chen, Shan Yao, Bin Song
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Liver fibrosis (LF) is a common pathological feature of all chronic liver diseases. With the accumulation of extracellular matrix in the fibrotic liver, true molecular water diffusion and perfusion-related diffusion are restricted. Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) can capture the information on tissue diffusivity and microcapillary perfusion separately and reflect the fibrotic severity with diffusion coefficients. AIM: To investigate the diagnostic performance of IVIM in detecting and staging LF with histology as a reference standard. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted to identify studies on the diagnostic accuracy of IVIM for assessment of histologically proven LF. The stages of LF were classified as F0 (no fibrosis), F1 (portal fibrosis without septa), F2 (periportal fibrosis with few septa), F3 (septal fibrosis), and F4 (cirrhosis) according to histopathological findings. Data were extracted to calculate the pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and diagnostic odds ratio, as well as the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) in each group. RESULTS: ) ranging from 0% to 77.9%. No publication bias was detected. CONCLUSION: IVIM is a noninvasive tool with good diagnostic performance in detecting and staging LF. Optimized and standardized IVIM protocols are needed to further improve its diagnostic accuracy in clinical practice.