CT texture analysis of the liver for assessing hepatic fibrosis in patients with hepatitis C virus.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate CT texture analysis (CTTA) for non-invasively staging of hepatic fibrosis (stages F0-F4) in a cohort of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV).

METHODS

Quantitative texture analysis of the liver was performed on abdominal multidimensional CT scans. Single slice region of interest measurements of the total liver, Couinaud segments IV-VIII and segments I-III were made. CT texture parameters were tested against stage of hepatic fibrosis in segments IV-VIII on the portal venous phase. Texture parameters were correlated with biopsy performed within 1 year for all cases with intermediate fibrosis (F0-F3).

RESULTS

CT scans of 556 adults (360 males, 196 females; mean age, 49.8 years), including a healthy control group (F0, n = 77) and patients with hepatitis C virus and Stage 0 disease (n = 49), and patients with increasing stages of fibrosis (F1, n = 80; F2 n = 99; F3 n = 87; F4 n = 164) were evaluated. Mean gray level intensity increased with increasing fibrosis. For significant fibrosis (≥F2), mean showed receiver operatingcharacteristic area under the curve (AUC) of 0.80 with sensitivity and specificity of 74 and 75% using a threshold of 0.44, with similar receiver operatingcharacteristic AUC and sensitivity/specificity for advanced fibrosis (≥F3). Skewness and kurtosis were inversely associated with hepatic fibrosis, most prominently in cirrhotic patients. A multivariate model combining these four texture features (mean, mpp, skewness and kurtosis) showed slightly improved performance with AUC of 0.82, 0.82 and 0.86 for any fibrosis (F0 vs F1-F4), significant fibrosis (F0-1 vs F2-4) and advanced fibrosis (F0-2 vs F3-4) respectively.

CONCLUSION

CT texture features may be associated with hepatic fibrosis and have utility in staging fibrosis, particularly at advanced levels.

ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: CTTA may be helpful in detecting and staging hepatic fibrosis, particularly at advanced levels. CT measures like CTTA can be retrospectively evaluated without special equipment.