What does liver elastography measure? Technical aspects and methodology.

Abstract

Elastography can be thought as an extension of the ancient technique of palpation. After giving a short introduction to the history of elastography, the different technologies that are nowadays available and the physics behind them, the article focuses on the assessment of liver stiffness in patients with diffuse liver disease using shear wave elastography (SWE). Practical advices on how to perform the SWE techniques and on the factors that should be taken into account for a correct interpretation of the results are given. This paper aims to provide a practical guide for beginners and advanced clinical users to better understand technical aspects, methodologies and terminology.