Evaluation of hepatic perfusion of cirrhosis by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography

Abstract

Objective To evaluate hepatic perfusion assessed by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) for predicting cirrhosis accurately and non-invasively.Methods Forty patients with cirrhosis and twenty-five healthy controls were given CEUS examination,and time-intensity curves were drawn as the regions of interest located in liver parenchyma by using QLAB analyzing soft.The parameters of the two groups as follows:intensity of arterial perfusion (Iap),intensity of total perfusion of liver parenchyma (Ipeak),intensity of portal venous perfusion (Ipp),the ratio of portal venous perfusion and total perfusion (Ipp/Ipeak) were compared by independent-samples t test,and the diagnostic value of parameters were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Resnlts Iap was bigger,while Ipp,Ipp/Ipeak were smaller in patients than that in controls( P ＜0.001 ).But there was no significant difference on Ipeak between the two groups.When Iap,Ipp,Ipp/Ipeak were used for the diagnosis of cirrhosis,the sensitivity were 67.3 ％,92.7％,96.4％ and the specificity were 80.0％,96.0％,92.3％,respectively.Conclusions CEUS can reflect the changes of the blood perfusion of cirrhotic liver.CEUS parameters Iap,Ipp,Ipp/Ipeak are significant different between the two groups and can be the non-invasive diagosis parameters of cirrhosis. Key words: Ultrasonography; Microbubbles; Liver cirrhosis