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Evaluation of Liver, Kidney, and Spleen Elasticity in Healthy Newborns and Infants Using Shear Wave Elastography
Figen Bakirtas Palabiyik1, Ercan Inci1, Rustu Turkay1
1Department of Radiology, Bakirkoy Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Insights
Shear wave elastography (SWE) provides normal elasticity values for infant liver, kidney, and spleen. These reference data are crucial for distinguishing healthy tissue from disease in pediatric abdominal organs.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Radiology
- Medical Imaging
- Biophysics
Background:
- Tissue elasticity measurement is vital for diagnosing and managing diseases.
- Shear Wave Elastography (SWE) is an advanced imaging technique for assessing tissue stiffness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To establish normal elasticity values for liver, kidney, and spleen in healthy newborns and infants.
- To evaluate the utility of SWE in pediatric abdominal organ assessment.
Main Methods:
- Fifty healthy newborns and infants underwent SWE imaging by a pediatric radiologist.
- Exclusion criteria included any known liver, kidney, spleen, or systemic diseases.
- All participants had normal abdominal ultrasound findings prior to SWE.
Main Results:
- Liver and spleen elasticity (shear wave velocity - SWV) showed no significant correlation with age, sex, weight, height, or BMI.
- Kidney SWV values demonstrated a decrease with increasing age, weight, height, and BMI.
- Mean SWV values were: Liver 1.70 m/s, Right Kidney 1.69 m/s, Left Kidney 1.70 m/s, Spleen 2.03 m/s.
Conclusions:
- SWE is a feasible method for measuring abdominal organ elasticity in infants.
- Established normal SWE values serve as essential reference data for differentiating healthy from pathological tissues.
- This study provides normative elasticity data for pediatric liver, kidney, and spleen.
Objectives:
Elasticity measurements of tissues can be valuable in the diagnosis and management of various diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the elasticity values for normal liver, kidney, and spleen of healthy newborns and infants using shear wave elastography (SWE) imaging.
Methods:
A total of 50 healthy term newborns and infants (19 girls and 31 boys; mean age 20.1 days, range 1 to 70 days) were examined by an experienced pediatric radiologist using SWE. None of them had any liver, kidney or spleen disease, or any other systemic disease that could affect these organs secondarily. All newborns and infants had a normal abdominal ultrasound scan.
Results:
Age, sex, weight, height, and body mass index had no significant effects on shear wave velocity (SWV) values of liver and spleen. The SWV values of both kidneys decreased with age, weight, height, and body mass index. The mean SWV values were 1.70 m/s (range: 1.23-2.43 m/s) for the liver, 1.69 m/s (range: 0.8-2.40 m/s) for the right kidney, 1.70 m/s (range: 0.9-2.49 m/s) for the left kidney, and 2.03 m/s (range: 1.28-2.48 m/s) for the spleen.
Conclusions:
Shear wave elastography can be used to measure liver, kidney, and spleen elasticity in newborns and infants. The standard values for abdominal organs allow differentiation of healthy versus pathological tissue. We measured the normal values of SWE in healthy newborns and infants as reference data.