New non-invasive method of risk assessment in liver disease

In a recent study, an interdisciplinary research team from MedUni Vienna showed that functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used as a non-invasive method for predicting complications in chronic liver disease. The scientists combined a simple risk stratification system developed at MedUni Vienna - the functional liver imaging score (FLIS) - with splenic diameter. This new non-invasive method can be used to complement invasive investigations. The study results were recently published in the renowned "Journal of Hepatology". For their study, the multidisciplinary group of researchers from the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy and the Department of Medicine III at MedUni Vienna analysed patients from the liver cirrhosis outpatient clinic at University Hospital Vienna. The functional liver imaging score (FLIS) developed at MedUni Vienna was confirmed to be extremely useful as a supplement to and/or replacement for existing invasive procedures for estimating severity and mortality risk. In the recent study, the scientists combined FLIS and splenic diameter for the first time to refine the new non-invasive method.