Abstract: Objective To evaluate the value of gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriaminepentaaceticacid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of liver fibrosis degrees of hepatitis B. Methods A retrospective study was performed on chronic hepatitis B patients who underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MRI examination enrolled from February 2019 to January 2022. The degree of liver fibrosis in these patients was evaluated according to the pathological results of liver biopsies. The mean signal values of right anterior lobe, right posterior lobe, left lobe, caudate lobe and right erector ridge muscle were measured in T1W1 and enhanced hepatobiliary phase images, and the relative enhancement of liver parenchyma in hepatobiliary phase was calculated. The difference of relative enhancement (RE) ratio of liver parenchyma in different hepatic fibrosis degree was analyzed. Results A total of 102 patients with chronic hepatitis B were enrolled, including 55 males and 47 females, with an average age of 35 years. According to the degree of hepatitis B fibrosis, 21 cases were S0 stage, 18 cases were S1 stage, 29 cases were S2 stage, 20 cases were S3 stage, and 14 cases were S4 stage. The RE ratio of patients with liver fibrosis in S0, S1, S2, S3 and S4 stages were (86.2±9.7)%, (74.1±12.6)%, (70.9±10.7)%, (62.5±13.4)% and (45.6±15.1)%, respectively, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MRI for evaluating the degree of liver fibrosis in hepatitis B showed an Area Under Curve (AUC) of 86%, an optimal cut-off value of 55%, a sensitivity of 67%, and a specificity of 91%. In patients with obvious liver fibrosis, the RE ratio of hepatobiliary phase was (52.7±6.1)%, which was lower than that of patients without obvious liver fibrosis (78.2±5.3)%, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion The more severe the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B, the lower the degree of RE ratio of liver parenchyma in hepatobiliary phase on Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MRI. Therefore, Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MRI is helpful to evaluate the degree of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Key words: Gd-EOB-DTPA, Liver fibrosis, Chronic hepatitis B, Magnetic resonance imaging