Abstract Objective To investigate the feasibility and repeatability of four-dimensional (4D) flow MRI for quantifying hepatic arterial blood flow (HABF) in healthy volunteers and patients with liver disease, and to identify sources of measurement variability. Materials and methods In this prospective single-centre study, 23 healthy volunteers and 12 patients underwent two-dimensional (2D) and 4D flow acquisitions at 3T. Time-averaged and peak systolic vessel areas, velocities, and flow rates of the common hepatic artery (CHA) were extracted. Feasibility of 4D flow was assessed via CHA visibility on phase-contrast MRA. Scan-rescan repeatability of 4D flow was assessed by calculating within-subject coefficient of variation (CV within ) using two-level variance components analysis (VCA). Within-subject variance was further decomposed into acquisition-related and plane positioning components using three-level VCA. Agreement between 2D and 4D flow was evaluated using Bland–Altman analysis and Pearson’s correlation. Results Average 4D flow feasibility rate was 83%. CV within ranged from 12–30%, with acquisition-related factors and plane positioning accounting for 30–40% and 7–11%, respectively. 4D flow overestimated vessel area by ~ 18% and underestimated velocity and flow rate by ~ 53% and ~ 36%, respectively, compared to 2D flow. Discussion 4D flow MRI enables HABF quantification, though substantial scan-rescan variability exists. Acquisition-related factors were the main source of within-subject variability, while plane positioning contributed less.
Brekel et al. (Sat,) studied this question.
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