Assessment of Splenic Stiffness in a Cohort of Healthy Population Using 2-D Shear Wave Ultrasound Elastography

Portal hypertension (PH) is a major complication of chronic liver disease (CLD) and often leads to life-threatening gastrointestinal bleeding. Splenic stiffness measurement (SSM) has recently emerged as a non-invasive marker for assessment of PH. However, baseline values of splenic stiffness in a healthy population remain relatively unexplored.

To determine the splenic stiffness in a cohort of the healthy population from North India and to establish reference values for future clinical applications.

This descriptive study was conducted in the Department of Radio-diagnosis in a tertiary care institute in North India. Patients with known chronic liver disease, splenomegaly, focal lesions in the liver or spleen, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease, or portal vein thrombosis, pregnant women, and pediatric patients (< 18 years of age) were excluded. Splenic stiffness was assessed using 2-D shear wave elastography (SWE). A total of 10 elastography readings were taken per patient, and the mean value was recorded.

The study population comprised 52 males and 48 females with a M:F ratio of 1.08. In our study, mean splenic stiffness was 13.44 kPa (±1.96 SD) with a median of 13.5 kPa. The majority of participants had SSM between 10 and 16 kPa (91%). A significant difference was observed in mean SSM between men and women in our study.

This study provides splenic stiffness values in a cohort of healthy population in North India and can serve as a reference for non-invasive assessment of PH. Future studies should be performed focusing on multicenter trials with inter-observer variability assessment and comparison across different ultrasound equipment and ethnicities.