Value of Shear Wave Elastography in Liver Cirrhosis

Abstract

Background: Chronic liver disease associated with viral hepatitis (mainly hepatitis B and C) or other etiologies, is clinical problem. It can cause various parenchymal liver injuries, lead to development of liver fibrosis and its various complications, from those portal hypertension and hepatocellular carcinoma being the most important. Liver biopsy is the most commonly used method for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis. The biopsy specimen size varies from one to three centimeters in length and between one to two millimeter in diameter, therefore the sample represents 1/50000 of all liver tissue.Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of two-dimensional shear wave elastography in evaluation of liver fibrosis.Patients and method: A prospective study included one hundred patients, fifty patients clinically confirmed as had liver fibrosis, the other fifty patients were normal (taken randomly with no history of liver disease and have normal ultrasound), the age of patients ranging from 20-55 years old. This study is single hospital study done in Baghdad teaching hospital in medical city, from November 2019 to march 2020.Results: The shear wave elastography measurements value in liver fibrosis was 11.165 kPa (range 3.8 to 23 kPa), whereas the median liver elasticity for normal subjects was 4.885 kPa (range 3.2 to 7.2 kPa) . A significant correlation was found between shear wave elastography and fibrosis (p=0.0006) with sensitivity of 80%. A significant correlation also seen between shear wave elastography and exclusion of fibrosis (sensitivity 76%) (sensitivity 76%) (p= 0.003). Conclusion: Shear wave elastography examination is a promising noninvasive method for the evaluation of liver fibrosis, with good diagnostic performance