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Application of Ultrasound and Shear Wave Elastography Imaging in a Rat Model of NAFLD/NASH
Published on: April 20, 2021
Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography and Shear Wave Dispersion: Correlation with Histopathological Changes in
Rawi Hazzan1, Tor Regev-Sadeh2, Tamar Dola3
1Clalit Health Services, Northern Region, Afula, Israel; Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University Henrietta, Safed, Israel.
Objective:
To evaluate the correlation between liver viscosity, as measured by shear wave dispersion (SWD), and fibrosis and inflammation in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Additionally, to assess its potential as a non-invasive biomarker for hepatic fibrosis compared to shear wave elastography (SWE).
Methods:
This prospective study included 25 AIH patients who underwent pre-biopsy SWD and SWE measurements using the SuperSonic Mach30 system. Liver biopsy samples were assessed for fibrosis using the Scheuer grading system and for inflammation using the modified Hepatic Activity Index (mHAI). Correlations between viscosity, elastography, fibrosis, and inflammation were analysed using Spearman's correlation coefficients.
Results:
Viscosity demonstrated a significant correlation with fibrosis stages (Spearman's coefficient: 0.58, p = 0.002), while SWE showed a weaker correlation (Spearman's coefficient: 0.50, p = 0.01). Viscosity measurements also correlated moderately with the mHAI score (Spearman's coefficient: 0.62, p = 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed weak to moderate correlations between viscosity and mHAI components across fibrosis stages.
Conclusion:
Our study suggests that viscosity may be better than SWE as a non-invasive marker for assessing hepatic fibrosis in AIH, particularly in the pre-treatment period when inflammation levels are elevated. However, we could not conclusively determine the relationship between viscosity and hepatic inflammation, as a small sample size limited our findings. Further research with a larger cohort of AIH patients is necessary to better understand the correlation between viscosity and inflammation in this rare condition.
