Diffusion kurtosis imaging in the assessment of liver function: Its potential as an effective predictor of liver function

Objectives:We aimed to determine whether diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) analysis with the breath-hold technique can replace liver function results obtained from laboratory tests.Methods:Patients (n = 79) suspected of having a hepatobiliary disease, and control group without liver diseases (n = 15) were examined with non-Gaussian diffusion-weighted imaging using a 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging unit. Based on the findings of DKI, various blood serum parameters, including the indocyanine green (ICG) retention rate 15 min after an intravenous injection of ICG (ICG-R15) and mean kurtosis values and Child–Pugh and albumin–bilirubin (ALBI) scores, were calculated. In total, 17 patients were tested using ICG-R15. For evaluating liver function, correlations between the mean kurtosis value and the Child–Pugh score, ALBI score, and ICG-R15 value as indicators of liver function obtained from blood data were assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation. In apparent diffusion coefficient as well, we assessed correla...