Evaluation of liver and spleen stiffness measurement with shear wave elastography in brucellosis

Human brucellosis, which is endemic in the eastern region of Turkey, infects the reticulo-endothelial system. Acute brucellosis may cause hepatomegaly or splenomegaly.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the point shear wave elastography (pSWE) method in identifying and detecting liver and spleen stiffness in acute brucellosis.

This case-control study included 40 patients with acute brusellosis and 60 healthy individuals as a control group. The demographic data, abdominal ultrasonography (USG) and pSWE results of the patient and control groups were evaluated. Statistical and ROC analyses were performed.

The liver pSWE value was 3.8395 ± 1.171 kPa in the patient group and 1.6619 ± 0.495 kPa in the control group. The spleen pSWE value was 3.2431 ± 1.803 kPa in the patient group and 1.3793 ± 0.622 kPa in the control group. The mean liver and spleen pSWE values were statistically significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (p < 0.001). Cut-off values were determined as 2.524 for the liver pSWE and 1.62667 for the spleen pSWE. From the AUC values (0.959, 0.903), the diagnostic performance of liver and spleen pSWE values were seen to be excellent in distinguishing between patient and control groups.

The study results showed that liver and spleen stiffness were high in acute brucellosis patients and had predictive significance above certain cut-off values. It can be considered that pSWE, which evaluates liver and spleen stiffness in acute brucellosis, may provide diagnostic benefit as a reliable, non-invasive technique.