Assessment of the liver and spleen in children with Gaucher disease type I with diffusion-weighted MR imaging.

PURPOSE

To assess hepatic and splenic apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in children with Gaucher disease type I with diffusion-weighted MR imaging and to correlate hepatic and splenic ADC with parameters of disease severity.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Prospective study was conducted upon 25 children (11 treated and 14 untreated) with Gaucher disease and 12 age and sex matched control children. They underwent diffusion-weighted MR imaging of abdomen. Hepatic and splenic ADC and volume were calculated.

RESULTS

There was statistically difference in hepatic and splenic apparent diffusion coefficient (P=0.001) between patients and controls. The cutoff ADC of liver and spleen used to differentiate patients from controls were 0.47 and 0.39×10mm with area and curve of 0.947 and 0.886 respectively. There was significant difference in hepatic and splenic ADC between untreated and treated patients (P=0.003 and 0.001). Hepatic ADC correlated with splenic volume (r=-0.721), hepatic volume (r=-0.555) and chitotriosidase (r=-0.413). Splenic ADC correlated with splenic volume (r=-0.652), hepatic volume (r=-0.544) and chitotriosidase (r=-0.355).

CONCLUSION

Hepatic and splenic ADC can detect hepatic and splenic infiltration in Gaucher disease and correlated with some parameters of disease severity.