Clinical Application of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Diagnosis of NAFLD.

INTRODUCTION

This review aims to evaluate the accuracy of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in diagnosing Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) based on the published literature.

METHODS

A PubMed search was performed using the keywords NAFLD and MRI, and the literature search deadline was set before April 2025.

RESULTS

A total of 86 studies out of 405 retrieved were included in this study. The results showed that Magnetic Resonance Imaging Proton Density Fat Fraction (MRI-PDFF) was positively correlated with steatosis grading. The proton Density Fat Fraction Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (PDFFMRS) threshold of 5% could be used to diagnose liver steatosis. Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) of NAFLD patients was significantly lower than that of controls. A 15% increase in Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) was the strongest predictor of progression to advanced fibrosis in NAFLD. The corrected T1 (cT1) cutoff value of 875 ms was used to identify liver fibrosis in NAFLD. The correlation between the Liver Surface Nodules (LSN) score and the stage of fibrosis in NAFLD was very strong. Dynamic enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) parameters increased with increasing severity of NAFLD and fibrosis.

DISCUSSION: This study evaluated the value of multiple MRI techniques in diagnosing NAFLD, confirming MRI's high accuracy and reliability as a noninvasive tool for quantifying NAFLD. However, future technical specification harmonization is needed to enhance comparability of results and validate generalizability through multicenter studies.

CONCLUSION

MRI is a highly reliable and accurate method for diagnosing NAFLD.