A Newly Developed Shear Wave Elastography Modality: With a Unique Reliability Index

The aim of this study was to prospectively assess the usefulness of the reliability index, namely the percentage of the net amount of effective shear wave velocity (VsN).

One hundred and sixty-eight patients with chronic liver disease, who underwent ultrasound elastography, were consecutively enrolled. Shear wave measurement (SWM), FibroScan, virtual touch quantification, and shear wave elastography were performed for all patients, and the variations in the measurement results were compared with VsN. The absolute average value of the difference between SWM_Vs and Vs measured using other elastography devices is termed |ΔVs|. VsN was classified into three groups: ≥50, <50, and 0 (failure measurement). In these groups, there was a significant difference in abdominal circumference, body mass index, the distance between the ultrasound probe surface and the liver, and |ΔVs|. When the distance between the ultrasound probe surface and the liver was >2 cm, VsN tended to be significantly lower (p < 0.001).

When VsN was <50, |ΔVs| became high, and there was variation in the results between each device.

The results of this study show that VsN is a useful value to decide whether Vs is appropriate or not.