DFP Profile

DFP NAME:

SAR Liver Fibrosis DFP

MISSION:

To promote understanding and research in the common yet misunderstood disease of liver fibrosis.   

DFP GOALS:

• To educate practicing radiologists about the disease process and precursors (such as viral hepatitis, hemochromatosis, and steatohepatitis) and the possibilities for early diagnosis.
• To create a uniform reporting system and terminology in collaboration with hepatologists.
• To promote the development and use of imaging techniques for the diagnosis and monitoring of liver fibrosis. Imaging tests include US elastography/ARFI, MR elastography, diffusion and perfusion imaging, dual energy CT.
• To develop guidelines for optimal early diagnosis, management and follow up of patients along the spectrum of disease. Guidelines will be informed by a respected multi-disciplinary team of radiologists, hepatologists and pathologists, and account for variability in practice and resources among different facilities. Guidelines will include acceptable cut-off values and ranges for quantitative imaging techniques.
• To advance research of imaging techniques by creating an inter-disciplinary and multi-institutional team that will initiate prospective studies of imaging techniques and assess their reproducibility.
• To define the role of imaging in the early diagnosis and follow up of liver fibrosis. Evaluation will consider the wide use of serum fibrosis panels (including APRI, FIB4, Fibrotest, and PGA) and newer potential markers for NASH and practical use of imaging tests in daily practice.
• To promote patient education about the importance of early diagnosis and follow up of fibrosis and its precursors.
• To promote referring colleague education regarding available imaging methods for fibrosis diagnosis and monitoring.

SAR Liver Fibrosis DFP Members:

Sudhakar Venkatesh, MD (chair); Venkatesh.Sudhakar@mayo.edu

Bejamin Yeh, MD (incoming chair); Ben.Yeh@ucsf.edu

Karthik Jhaveri, MD; kartik.jhaveri@uhn.ca

Frank Miller, MD; fmiller@northwestern.edu

Michael Ohliger, MD, PhD; Michael.ohliger@ucsf.edu

Al Silva, MD; Silva.Alvin@mayo.edu

Claude Sirlin, MD; csirlin@ucsd.edu
Jeanne Horowitz, MD; jeanne.horowitz@nm.org
Venkateswar R Surabhi MD; Venkateswar.R.Surabhi@uth.tmc.edu
Bachir Taouli  MD; bachir.taouli@mountsinai.org
Michael L. Wells, MD; Wells.Michael@mayo.edu
Richard Ehman, MD; ehman.richard@mayo.edu

Anthony Samir, MD; asamir@mgh.harvard.edu

Jonathan Dillman, MD; Jonathan.dillman@cchmc.org

Andrew Smith, MD; andrewdennissmith@uabmc.edu

Chair:

Sudhakar Venkatesh, MD; Venkatesh.Sudhakar@mayo.edu

Chair-in-succession:

Bejamin Yeh, MD; Ben.Yeh@ucsf.edu

Consultants:

Hepatologist: Michael Torbenson, MD; Torbenson.Michael@mayo.edu

Pathologist: Patrick Kamath, MD;Kamath.Patrick@mayo.edu

Recent Activity: 

1. Noninvasive diagnosis of liver fibrosis: A primer for radiologists. Radiologic Society of North America (RSNA) educational exhibit, November 2015 

2. Magnetic Resonance Elastography Stiffness Maps: What Do They Tell Us? Educational poster presentation at the Radiological Society of North America, 2015- Solicited for Radiographics and accepted for publication pending revisions

3. Initiated multi-institutional test of reproducibility of 3D MR Elastography in a phantom

4. Retrospective study of fECS CT and MRI for quantification of liver fibrosis at Mayo Rochester UCSF - Manuscript in preparation and will be submitted to Abdominal Radiology

Member Resources

Liver fibrosis imaging review articles:

Can imaging modalities diagnose and stage hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis accurately?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19022517

Diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance elastography in staging liver fibrosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25305349 

Patient Resources

Fatty Liver Disease and Liver Fibrosis 

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=fatty-liver-disease 

Cirrhosis of the Liver

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=cirrhosisliver