One MRI scan to check muscle loss, liver cancer and portal hypertension
Tests one MRI scan for muscle loss and liver cancer in adults with cirrhosis.
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Linkoeping University
- Where
- Eksjö, Jönköping, and Linköping, SwedenSee the 3 sites
- Trial code
- Registry title
- Relevance of Sarcopenia in Advanced Liver Disease
- Status
- Recruiting
- People taking part
- 150 people, planned
- Started
- 1 Feb 2021
- Expected to end
- 30 Jun 2030
- Type of study
- Observational
- Record updated
- 24 August 2023
Who can take part
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.
The trial is looking for adults with established or probable liver cirrhosis. It uses one short MRI scan to look at muscle loss, portal hypertension and liver cancer.
- Age
- 18 years or older
- Sex
- All sexes can join.
- Disease stage
- Established or probable liver cirrhosis, judged by usual clinical practice at Linköping University Hospital. A biopsy is not always needed; FibroScan, symptoms or imaging can be used.
- Earlier treatment
- People with a previous liver transplant cannot join.
Main reasons for not taking part
- Cannot have an MRI scan for safety reasons
- Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
- Already diagnosed with hepatic carcinoma (HCC)
- Previous liver transplant
The registry criteria, word for word
Show all 7 criteriaShow less
Who can take part
- Established or probable liver cirrhosis according to clinical practice at the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Linköping University Hospital. This is not by necessity biopsy verified, it can be different criteria such as FibroScan, symptoms, biopsy, and radiology
- Age ≥18 years
- Written informed consent from the participant
Who cannot take part
- Previous liver transplant
- Contraindications for MRI
- Subjects suffering from primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)
- Subjects diagnosed with Hepatic carcinoma (HCC)
Where in Sweden
- Department of Gastroenterology), District Hospital in EksjöEksjö, SwedenContact: Martin Rejler, PhD, MDTaking people
- Department of gastroenterology, County Hospital in JönköpingJönköping, SwedenContact: Henrik Stjernman, PhD, MDTaking people
- Department of gastroenterology and hepatologyLinköping, SwedenContact: Camilla HolmgrenTaking people
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
Patients with established liver cirrhosis, or end-stage liver disease (ESLD), are at high risk of developing liver cancer (hepatic carcinoma; HCC), portal hypertension, and sarcopenia, all which lead to significant morbidity and mortality. In this patient group the annual incidence of HCC is c. 2-8% and these patients are therefore included in ultrasound HCC screening programs every 6 months.
Read full original descriptionShow less
In this study, the investigators are aiming to assess sarcopenia, clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH), and HCC with a single short magnetic resonance (MR) examination. A neck-to-knee MRI-examination will be acquired to derive body composition profile (BCP) measurements including visceral and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT and ASAT), thigh fat free muscle volume (FFMV) and muscle fat infiltration (MFI), as well as liver fat (PDFF), spleen volume, and liver stiffness. Images will be further processed by AMRA Medical AB. AMRA's solution includes FFMV in the context of virtual control groups (VCG; using AMRA's vast database) and MFI. Furthermore, the spleen volume will be used to monitor the development of portal hypertension and explored together with other BCP variables in relation to hepatic decompensation events. HCC screening will be performed using so-called abbreviated MRI (AMRI), which consists of time series of contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images. The AMRI images will be read by an experienced radiologist. In the literature the sensitivity of AMRI to detect HCC is above 80%, with a specificity of c. 95%, compared to ultrasound sensitivity of 60%.
In treating ESLD there is a desire of physicians to be able to predict future decompensation events in order to initiate treatment to prolong survival. Moreover, the ability to assess processes of sarcopenia in the patient would be highly valuable for clinical practice due its severe clinical impact. Finally, ultrasound-based HCC screening has poor diagnostic performance and a MR-based screening approach would significantly improve treatment outcome as more treatable and earlier HCC may be identified.
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations
Print a page for my doctorData and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- A Rapid, Non-invasive, Clinical Surveillance for CachExia, Sarcopenia, Portal Hypertension and Hepatocellular Carcinoma in End-Stage Liver Disease
- Plain-language title
- One MRI scan to check muscle loss, liver cancer and portal hypertensionGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
- AI summary
- From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
- Publications
- Prevalence and significance of combined low muscle volume and high muscle fat in patients with Child-Pugh A-B cirrhosis.JHEP reports : innovation in hepatology, 2026
- Record updated
- 24 August 2023