NICOLA V1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Non-Invasive and Comprehensive Liver Assessment
IRAS ID
117751
Contact name
Michael Pavlides
Contact email
Research summary
Liver disease is the fastest growing cause of mortality in the Western world especially in young and middle aged patients. This is driven by increases in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease which is estimated to affect about 30% of the adult population in Western countries, an epidemic of viral hepatitis with hepatitis C estimated to affect 3% of the World’s population as well as increasing alcohol consumption.
The current gold standard for the diagnosis and monitoring of liver disease is liver biopsy which is painful and invasive with a significant risk of complications. It only samples a small amount of the liver and is subject to interpretation errors. There is therefore an urgent need to develop non-invasive tools to replace biopsy in the assessment of liver disease.
We have developed MRI scans which can assess the amount of scarring and fat and iron deposition in the liver. In a previous study we found excellent agreement between biopsy results and our MRI measurements. We are going to study patients with known and suspected liver disease and patients undergoing surgery for weight reduction and liver resection. Patients who wish to participate will be asked to attend a 2 hour appointment at the Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research where they will have an MRI scan, a Fibroscan (similar to ultrasound scan of the liver), blood tests and body measurements. Patients will be recruited from the Oxford University Hospitals.The study is funded by the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre and the Oxfordshire Health Services Research Committee.
Our overriding aim is to develop an MRI scanning technique that will provide quick, non-invasive and comprehensive assessment of liver patients and give information that at present can only be obtained by liver biopsies.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/SC/0243
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jun 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion