Assessment of Alcoholic Impact on Multiple Organs by Dual-frequency Dual-driver Abdominal MR Elastography (MRE)

We performed dual-frequency dual-driver abdominal MR Elastography (MRE) on 11 patients with alcoholic hepatitis (AH), and 6 healthy volunteers without known histories of chronic alcohol consumption. Two flexible drivers were placed over the anterior abdominal wall to deliver sufficient shear wave propagation in multiple abdominal organs at two different mechanical frequencies. The liver stiffness (LS) and spleen stiffness (SS) calculated from MRE at 60Hz, and pancreas stiffness derived from 30Hz, all significantly increased in patients with AH, compared with controls. This pilot study indicates the feasibility of dual-frequency dual-driver abdominal MRE to assess the alcoholic impact on multiple organs.