Nondiseased liver stiffness measured by shear wave elastography: a pilot study

Area of Science:

• Hepatology
• Medical Imaging
• Diagnostic Ultrasound

Background:

• Noninvasive assessment of liver health is crucial for early diagnosis and management of chronic liver diseases.
• Shear wave elastography (SWE) offers a promising noninvasive method for evaluating liver stiffness.
• Establishing reliable thresholds for SWE is essential for accurate clinical interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the diagnostic value of liver stiffness measurements using SWE in patients without liver disease.
• To determine a specific liver stiffness threshold for identifying patients with chronic liver diseases.
• To compare liver stiffness values between healthy individuals and those with noncirrhotic chronic liver disease.

Main Methods:

• 150 patients underwent liver sonography with SWE, categorized into nondiseased liver (n=97) and noncirrhotic chronic liver disease (n=53) groups.
• Median liver stiffness was calculated from 10 measurements in the right liver lobe.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was employed to determine the optimal threshold value.

Main Results:

• Mean liver stiffness was 5.4 kPa in the nondiseased group and 8.1 kPa in the chronic liver disease group (P < .001).
• An optimal liver stiffness threshold of 6.9 kPa was identified, with 94% sensitivity for discriminating between healthy and diseased livers.
• Biopsy-validated patients showed mean stiffness of 6.0 kPa (F0) and 9.9 kPa (F2).

Conclusions:

• The study successfully defined the range of liver stiffness in healthy individuals.
• An optimal SWE threshold of 6.9 kPa was established for differentiating chronic liver disease from healthy liver states.
• SWE provides a sensitive and reliable noninvasive tool for diagnosing chronic liver disease.