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Updated: Jun 16, 2025
Application of Ultrasound and Shear Wave Elastography Imaging in a Rat Model of NAFLD/NASH
Published on: April 20, 2021
Value of Two-Dimensional Shear-Wave Elastography in Differentiating Pancreatic Steatosis From Pancreatic Fibrosis
Zhenzhen Chen1, Huiyang Wang1, Tian'an Jiang1,2
1Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
Objectives:
Pancreatic steatosis (PS) and pancreatic fibrosis (PF) both show increased pancreatic echogenicity on conventional B-mode ultrasound. In this study, we assessed the applicability of two-dimensional shear-wave elastography (2D-SWE) for their discrimination.
Methods:
We gathered data from 120 adults with valid 2D-SWE measurements, comprising 40 healthy individuals, 55 individuals diagnosed with PS via non-enhanced computed tomography (CT), and 25 patients clinically diagnosed with non-calcific chronic pancreatitis. The participants were divided into three groups: normal pancreas (NP), PS, and PF. pancreatic echogenicity, pancreatic stiffness, and CT values between groups were analyzed.
Results:
The 2D-SWE and CT values among the NP, PS, and PF groups all showed significant differences (P < .001). For the diagnosis of PS and PF using 2D-SWE, the area under the curve (AUC) values were 0.9100 and 0.9940, respectively, with optimal cut-off values of 5.7 kPa for predicting PS and 8.2 kPa for predicting PF.
Conclusions:
The 2D-SWE technique enabled rapid and quantitative assessment of the hardness of hyperechoic pancreas visualized on conventional B-mode ultrasound, which holds certain value in distinguishing PS from PF.
