Assessment of Hepatic Lipid Content by MRS in Patients on Home Parenteral Nutrition

Marinette van Der Graaf^1,2, Geert J. Wanten³

Patients with severe intestinal problems who receive Home Parenteral Nutrition (HPN) are at risk for developing hepatic dysfunctioning due to steatosis. In the present study, hepatic lipid content was determined by MRS in 13 patients on HPN. To allow for correction for T2 relaxation, single voxel STEAM measurements were performed at 3T using multiple echo times. Five patients had high hepatic lipid contents (12.8%3.5%, meanSD), while the other eight had normal liver fat concentration (1.1%0.6%). In addition, most patients showed increased T2 relaxation behavior probably due to elevated hepatic iron or manganese content.