Short-term changes observed in multiparametric liver MRI following therapy with direct-acting antivirals in chronic hepatitis C virus patients

ConclusionFor the first time, our study has shown that treatment of HCV with DAAs in patients with cirrhosis leads to an acute reduction in liver T1, T2 and T2* and an increase in liver perfusion measured using MR parameters. The ability of MRI to characterise changes in the angio-architecture of patients with cirrhosis after intervention in the short term will enhance our understanding of the natural history of regression of liver disease and potentially influence clinical decision algorithms.Key Points• DAAs have revolutionised the treatment of hepatitis C and achieve sustained virological response in over 95% of patients, even with liver cirrhosis.• Currently available non-invasive measures of liver fibrosis are not accurate after HCV treatment with DAAs, this prospective single-centre study has shown that MRI can sensitively measure changes within the liver, which could reflect the reduction in inflammation with viral clearance.• The ability of MRI to characterise changes in structural and haemodynamic MRI measures in the liver after intervention will enhance our understanding of the progression/regression of liver disease and could potentially influence clinical decision algorithms.
Source: European Radiology - Category: Radiology Source Type: research