Purpose
Non-invasive methods for the staging of liver fibrosis have been acceptedas an alternative to liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis.
In this setting,
vibration controlled transient elastography (VCTE),
which is performed with the FibroScan device (Echosens,
Paris,
France),
is the most validated method.
Apoint share wave elastography techniquehas recently been implemented on the Twice ultrasound system (Esaote,
Genoa,
Italy).
The aim of this study was to assess the performance of a prototype of the QElaXto® technique by comparing the results to those obtained with...
Methods and materials
This was a single center cross-sectional study.
From May to October 2015 consecutive individuals,
referred to the ultrasound unit of the infectious disease department of our institution for abdominal ultrasound examination,
were enrolled.
Liver stiffness measurements (LSM)s were performed with both QElaXto® and VCTE.
The LSMs with FibroScan device were performed following the procedure described elsewhere and only LSMs with 10 validated measurements and an interquantile range/median (IQR/M) < 30% for values higher than 7.1 kiloPascal (kPa) were considered reliable [1,2].
The LSMs with QElaXto®...
Results
Ninety-six patients [62 males,
34 females; mean age,
56.6 (12.1) years] were studied.
Ninety-one patients were affected by chronic hepatitis C,
fifteenof whom were coinfected with HIV; three patients were HIV-monoinfected; two patients were affected by non alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Thirty-eight individuals were in F0-F1 stage,
13 in F2 stage,
10 in F3 stage,
and 35 in F4 stage.
The optimal cutoff of QElaXto® for staging significant fibrosis (F≥2) was 8.8 kPa [sensitivity,
87.9% (95%CI: 76.7-95.0); specificity,
97.4%(95%CI: 86.2-99.9); LR+,
33.4 (95%CI: 4.8-231.7); LR-,...
Conclusion
These preliminary results show that the QElaXto®point share wave elastography method is accurate in staging liver fibrosis.
References
Sandrin L,
Fourquet B,
Hasquenoph JM,
et al.
Transient elastography: a new noninvasive method for assessment of hepatic fibrosis.
Ultrasound Med Biol 2003; 29:1705-13.
Boursier J,
Zarski JP,
de Ledinghen V,
et al.
Determination of reliability criteria for liver stiffness evaluation by transient elastography.
Hepatology 2013; 57: 1182-91.
Tsochatzis EA,
Gurusamy KS,
Ntaoula S,
Cholongitas E,
Davidson BR,
Burroughs AK.
Elastography for the diagnosis of severity of fibrosis in chronic liver disease: a meta-analysis of diagnostic accuracy.
J Hepatol 2011; 54: 650-9.