Prognostic role of magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen with intravenous contrast and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography in primary sclerosing cholangitis

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of Anali scores, determined by magnetic resonance imaging, for predicting the prognosis of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) and to analyze interobserver variability, as well as to assess the impact of periportal edema and heterogeneous signal intensity on diffusion-weighted imaging of the liver. Materials and Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 29 patients with PSC and baseline magnetic resonance imaging. Anali scores, without gadolinium (0-5 points) and with gadolinium (0-2 points), were calculated by two radiologists. Clinical end-points included liver transplantation, cirrhotic decompensation, and death. We calculated intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for interobserver agreement on the Anali scores, performed Kaplan-Meier survival analysis comparing event-free survival among the score strata, and calculated the areas under receiver operating characteristic curves to determine sensitivity and specificity. Results: Among the patients with a clinical event, the median Anali score was 4 (interquartile range [IQR], 2-5) without gadolinium and 2 (IQR, 1–2) with gadolinium, compared with 1 (IQR, 1.0–2.5) and 1 (IQR, 0.25–1.0), respectively, among those without a clinical event. The ICC was 0.79 (95% confidence interval: 0.57–0.91) for the Anali score with gadolinium and 0.99 (95% confidence interval: 0.98–0.99) for the Anali score without gadolinium. Periportal edema and heterogeneous signal intensity in the liver on diffusion-weighted imaging showed no statistical impact on clinical events (p = 0.65 and p = 0.5, respectively). Conclusion: Anali scores correlate with clinical events in PSC, with a high level of interobserver agreement.