Evaluation of SWV Measured by ARFI Technology in Hepatic Fibrosis

Abstract

To explore the application value of the liver shear wave velocity (SWV) measured by acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) technology in hepatic fibrosis caused by chronic hepatitis B. The use of ACUSON S2000 color ultrasound system. The measurement of liver SWV in left lateral decubitus were performed on patients with chronic hepatitis B (n=210) and normal volunteers (n=20) and the position were as liver biopsy as possible. All patients with chronic hepatitis B were accepted liver biopsy under ultrasound-guided. SWV values in the cases with chronic hepatitis B increased gradually with the growing degree of hepatic fibrosis. SWV values among each fibrosis groups were remarkably different(P=0.000). Using the cutoff values of 1.43m/s, 1.78m/s, 2.15m/s and 2.45m/s for diagnosis of ≥S1,≥S2,≥S3 and = S4, the corresponding areas under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) were 0.826, 0.829, 0.845 and 0.880 respectively. The sensitivity was 85.3%, 90.6%, 87.1% and 89.1%; the specificity was 87.5%, 90.1%, 82.8% and 87.4%; the accuracy was 89.4%, 84.6%, 88.1% and 83.2% respectively. Undertaking Spearman double variables correlated analysis between the SWV values and the parameters of fibrosis grade, inflammation grade and steatosis grade, the analyses shown were statistically significant between SWV value and fibrosis grade,SWV value and inflammation grade. The correlation coefficient were 0.713 (p = 0.000)and 0.496 (p = 0.001),but there was no obvious correlation between SWV value and steatosis grade in our study, the correlation coefficient was 0.145 (p = 0.368). Multiple linear regression showed that it had correlation relationship between SWV values and fibrosis grade (p = 0.000), the standard regression coefficient was 0.664,but there was no obvious correlation relationship between SWV values and inflammation grade, SWV values and steatosis grade (P>0.05). SWV measurement can directly reflect the elasticity modulus of liver, and the value can reflect the difference of hardness among every S stage. It can also identify hepatic fibrosis degree in a effective, convenient and non-invasive way. SWV measurement can be recommended as a new and to judge hepatic fibrosis degree.