Aims and objectives
Introduction
Conventional ultrasound is being used widely for screening patients who are at high risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [Chalasani N 1999].
Elastography is a stiffness imaging modality [Ophir J 2000] which is based on the premise that tissue elasticity can be changed by pathological conditions such as neoplasm or inflammation [Yeh WC 2002].
An excitation force is applied and the tissue response is measured to infer the mechanical properties of the tissue.
Supersonic shear wave elastography (SWE) is a novel technology involving the remote...
Methods and materials
This was a prospective study approved by the local research ethics committee,
University of Malaya,
and informed consent was obtained from all patients.
Patients referred to the Department of Biomedical Imaging,
University Malaya Medical Centre,
Malaysia for multi-phase computed tomography (CT) liver examinations from July 2012 to March 2013 were screened.
The patients were then divided into the following groups based on the CT findings: newly diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC),
liver metastasis and control (patients with no focal liver lesion seen) (Refer Fig.
2).
Ultrasound...
Results
Results
41 patients (30 male,
11 female,
aged 59.7 ± 12.5 years) completed the SWE examination.
Patients are categorised to HCC,
liver metastasis and control groups (Refer Fig.
2).
17 patients (29.3%) of patients did not complete the SWE examination (Refer Fig.
3).
Table 1 and 2 show the mean and maximum elasticity values for HCC,
metastasis and control group.
Fig.
4 shows the box plot for comparison of the elasticity values.
There were significant differences (p<0.05) in tissue elasticity between HCC and the control...
Conclusion
SWE is a non-invasive,
quantitative and non-radiating method which provides additional information to characterise HCC and metastatic liver nodules based on the tissue elasticity values.
Further studies with larger patient population should be performed to determine its diagnostic role in assessing focal liver lesions including other malignant and benign liver lesions.
Personal information
Kah Lai Choong,
MBBS
[email protected]
Department of Biomedical Imaging
Basri JJ Abdullah,
FRCR,
MBBS
[email protected]
Department of Biomedical Imaging
Gnana Kumar,
FRCR,
MBBS
[email protected]
Department of Biomedical Imaging
Chai Hong Yeong,
PhD,
MMedPhys,
BSc
[email protected]
Department of Biomedical Imaging
Khean Lee Goh,
MD,
MRCP,
MBBS
[email protected]
Department of Internal Medicine
Boon Koon Yoong,
MBBS
[email protected]
Department of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine,
University of Malaya,
50603 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
References
Athanasiou A,
Tardivon A,
Tanter M,
et al.
Breast lesions: quantitative elastography with supersonic shear imaging - preliminary results.
Radiology 2010; 256 (1): 297-303.Bavu E,
Gennisson JL,
Couade M,
et al.
Noninvasive in vivo liver fibrosis evaluation using supersonic shear imaging: a clinical study on 113 hepatitis C virus patients.
Ultrasound in Med.
& Biol.
2011; 37 (9): 1361-1373.
Bercoff J,
Tanter M,
Fink M.
Supersonic shear imaging: a new technique for soft tissue elasticity mapping.
IEEE Transactions On Ultrasonics,
Ferroelectrics,
And Frequency Control 2004;...