{"title":"Ultrasound Shear Wave Elastography and Shear Wave Dispersion: Correlation with Histopathological Changes in Autoimmune Hepatitis Patients.","authors":"Rawi Hazzan, Tor Regev-Sadeh, Tamar Dola, Hila Shemer-Shamay, Alona Umansky, Ehud Zigmond, Ziv Neeman","doi":"10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.01.009","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>To evaluate the correlation between liver viscosity, as measured by shear wave dispersion (SWD), and fibrosis and inflammation in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Additionally, to assess its potential as a non-invasive biomarker for hepatic fibrosis compared to shear wave elastography (SWE).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This prospective study included 25 AIH patients who underwent pre-biopsy SWD and SWE measurements using the SuperSonic Mach30 system. Liver biopsy samples were assessed for fibrosis using the Scheuer grading system and for inflammation using the modified Hepatic Activity Index (mHAI). Correlations between viscosity, elastography, fibrosis, and inflammation were analysed using Spearman's correlation coefficients.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Viscosity demonstrated a significant correlation with fibrosis stages (Spearman's coefficient: 0.58, p = 0.002), while SWE showed a weaker correlation (Spearman's coefficient: 0.50, p = 0.01). Viscosity measurements also correlated moderately with the mHAI score (Spearman's coefficient: 0.62, p = 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed weak to moderate correlations between viscosity and mHAI components across fibrosis stages.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our study suggests that viscosity may be better than SWE as a non-invasive marker for assessing hepatic fibrosis in AIH, particularly in the pre-treatment period when inflammation levels are elevated. However, we could not conclusively determine the relationship between viscosity and hepatic inflammation, as a small sample size limited our findings. Further research with a larger cohort of AIH patients is necessary to better understand the correlation between viscosity and inflammation in this rare condition.</p>","PeriodicalId":49399,"journal":{"name":"Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.01.009","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ACOUSTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the correlation between liver viscosity, as measured by shear wave dispersion (SWD), and fibrosis and inflammation in patients with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). Additionally, to assess its potential as a non-invasive biomarker for hepatic fibrosis compared to shear wave elastography (SWE).
Methods: This prospective study included 25 AIH patients who underwent pre-biopsy SWD and SWE measurements using the SuperSonic Mach30 system. Liver biopsy samples were assessed for fibrosis using the Scheuer grading system and for inflammation using the modified Hepatic Activity Index (mHAI). Correlations between viscosity, elastography, fibrosis, and inflammation were analysed using Spearman's correlation coefficients.
Results: Viscosity demonstrated a significant correlation with fibrosis stages (Spearman's coefficient: 0.58, p = 0.002), while SWE showed a weaker correlation (Spearman's coefficient: 0.50, p = 0.01). Viscosity measurements also correlated moderately with the mHAI score (Spearman's coefficient: 0.62, p = 0.001). Subgroup analyses revealed weak to moderate correlations between viscosity and mHAI components across fibrosis stages.
Conclusion: Our study suggests that viscosity may be better than SWE as a non-invasive marker for assessing hepatic fibrosis in AIH, particularly in the pre-treatment period when inflammation levels are elevated. However, we could not conclusively determine the relationship between viscosity and hepatic inflammation, as a small sample size limited our findings. Further research with a larger cohort of AIH patients is necessary to better understand the correlation between viscosity and inflammation in this rare condition.
期刊介绍:
Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology is the official journal of the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. The journal publishes original contributions that demonstrate a novel application of an existing ultrasound technology in clinical diagnostic, interventional and therapeutic applications, new and improved clinical techniques, the physics, engineering and technology of ultrasound in medicine and biology, and the interactions between ultrasound and biological systems, including bioeffects. Papers that simply utilize standard diagnostic ultrasound as a measuring tool will be considered out of scope. Extended critical reviews of subjects of contemporary interest in the field are also published, in addition to occasional editorial articles, clinical and technical notes, book reviews, letters to the editor and a calendar of forthcoming meetings. It is the aim of the journal fully to meet the information and publication requirements of the clinicians, scientists, engineers and other professionals who constitute the biomedical ultrasonic community.