Blood and liver tissues were collected for evaluation of liver function and liver fibrosis indicators.
With this limitation in mind, the Gd-EOB-DTPA hepatic extraction fraction can be used as a direct, noninvasive technique for the quantitative evaluation of liver function.
One animal study showed a negative effect of CSA on the excretion of the tracer 99mTc-mebrofenin, thus possibly confusing the evaluation of liver function when comparing patients treated with CSA or TAC.
The evaluation of liver function tests and thyroid hormone revealed no change of these parameters after therapy (data not shown).
To complete the evaluation of liver function, we investigated the different steps of cholesterol metabolism in the liver (biosynthesis, catabolism, storage, transport, and regulation).
Therefore, finding suitable noninvasive tests for improving the evaluation of liver function and aiding in diagnosis of fatty liver is urgently necessary.
New modalities and protocols, such as magnetic resonance (MR) perfusion, MR elastography, and dual-energy computed tomography (CT), enable the potential evaluation of liver function via imaging studies.
Some possible reasons for the difficulty of establishing a definitive method for the evaluation of liver function are absence of any entirely safe substrates, the complexity of the tests, and the invasiveness of the methods.
However, some studies have used absolute values corresponding to T1 relaxation times via the look-locker sequence for the evaluation of liver function [ 19– 21], and we are considering further evaluation using these parameters for the early evaluation of PVE.
Evaluation should also include pre-drug baseline and post-drug laboratory evaluation which should ideally include CBC, extended biochemical serum profile, urine and adequate evaluation of liver function (pre- and postprandial bile acids or ammonia).
