Assessing Liver Stiffness by 2D-Shear Wave Elastography in a Healthy Cohort

Abstract

To assess the normal range and agreement of liver stiffness measurements in healthy subjects, using 2D-Shear Wave Elastography from General Electric (2D-SWE-GE) compared with Transient Elastography (TE). We included 80 healthy subjects without known liver disease, in whom liver stiffness (LS) was evaluated in the same session using two elastographic methods, TE and 2D-SWE-GE. Reliable liver stiffness measurements (LSM) were defined for TE as the median value of ten measurements with a success rate (SR) of ≥60% and an interquartile range (IQR) <30%, and for 2D-SWE-GE as the median value of 10 measurements acquired in a homogenous area and IQR <30%. Reliable LSM were obtained in 79 subjects (98.7%) by means of 2D-SWE-GE and in 80 subjects (100%) by means of TE (p=0.9). The mean LSM value in our cohort of healthy subjects obtained by means of 2D-SWE-GE was 5.1±1.3 kPa, which was significantly higher than the LSM values assessed by TE (4.3±0.9 kPa, p< 0.0001). In 2D-SWE-GE mean LSM values were significantly higher for men than for women, 5.9±1.2 kPa vs. 4.7±1.2 kPa (p=0.0005). 2D-SWE has a very good feasibility (98.7%) in healthy subjects. The mean LSM value determined by 2D-SWE-GEin healthy subjects is 5.1±1.3 kPa. LSM values obtained by means of 2D-SWE-GE are higher than those obtained by TE in healthy subjects.