Two-Dimensional Shear Wave Elastography versus Transient Elastography: A Non-Invasive Comparison for the Assessment of Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C.

Rosanna Villani,Antonino Davide Romano,Francesco Cavallone,Francesco Bellanti,Gaetano Serviddio

doi:10.3390/diagnostics10050313

Rosanna Villani, Antonino Davide Romano + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics10050313

Copy DOI

Journal: Diagnostics	Publication Date: May 16, 2020
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Foggia

Abstract

In recent years, several non-invasive methods have been developed for staging liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. A 2D-Shear wave elastography (SWE) technique has been recently introduced on the EPIQ 7 US system (ElastQ), but its accuracy has not been validated in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We enrolled 178 HCV patients to assess their liver fibrosis stage with ElastQ software using transient elastography as a reference standard. The best cut-off values to diagnose ≥ F2, ≥ F3, and F4 were 8.15, 10.31, and 12.65 KPa, respectively. Liver stiffness values had a positive correlation with transient elastography (r = 0.57; p < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristics (AUROC) was 0.899 for ≥ F2 (moderate fibrosis), 0.900 for ≥ F3 (severe fibrosis), and 0.899 for cirrhosis. 2D-SWE has excellent accuracy in assessing liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C and an excellent correlation with transient elastography.

Highlights

Chronic hepatitis C is a major cause of end-stage liver disease and health problems globally [1].Worldwide, an estimated 71 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections (1.0% of the global population), whereas a higher prevalence has been reported in Europe [2].The most important clinical feature of an HCV infection is the slowly progressive disease, characterized by persistent hepatic inflammation, fibrosis progression, and cirrhosis in up to50% of patients over 22 years [3,4,5]
Failure to obtain reliable 2D-Shear wave elastography (SWE) measurements was observed in four patients, whereas unreliable Transient elastography (TE) measurements were recorded in three patients
The assessment of liver fibrosis is a pivotal step in the management of patients with chronic liver disease [21]

Summary

Introduction

Chronic hepatitis C is a major cause of end-stage liver disease and health problems globally [1].Worldwide, an estimated 71 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections (1.0% of the global population), whereas a higher prevalence has been reported in Europe (more than 14 million people and a prevalence of 1.5%) [2].The most important clinical feature of an HCV infection is the slowly progressive disease, characterized by persistent hepatic inflammation, fibrosis progression, and cirrhosis in up to50% of patients over 22 years [3,4,5]. Chronic hepatitis C is a major cause of end-stage liver disease and health problems globally [1]. An estimated 71 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections (1.0% of the global population), whereas a higher prevalence has been reported in Europe (more than 14 million people and a prevalence of 1.5%) [2]. The most important clinical feature of an HCV infection is the slowly progressive disease, characterized by persistent hepatic inflammation, fibrosis progression, and cirrhosis in up to. 50% of patients over 22 years [3,4,5] In this clinical setting, the assessment of liver fibrosis is a pivotal step for the management of chronic HCV patients since it provides information guiding clinical choices and therapeutic decisions [6,7]. Several methods have been studied for the non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis, including serum biomarkers and quantification of liver stiffness (LS)

Methods

Results

Conclusion