[Ultrasound elastography of ethanol-induced hepatic lesions].
OBJECTIVE
To study the value of ultrasound elastography in the evaluation of ethanol-induced lesions of liver.


METHODS
Alcohol with a dose of 2 ml was injected into a fresh porcine liver under ultrasound guidance to create stiff necrosis. Then freehand elastography of the lesion from the identical scan plane was obtained with Siemens SONOLINE Antares system using VF10-5 probe at about every 30 seconds till 6 minutes later. The original high-quality radio-frequency data were acquired through an ultrasound research interface provided by the ultrasound system. Corresponding elastograms were then produced offline using cross-corre-lation technique and compared with gross specimen.


RESULTS
A hyperechoic area with acoustic shadow below appeared immediately after alcohol injection. The hyperechoic area diffused and its boundary was illegible following injection. On the contrary, the ethanol-induced lesion in elastography appeared as a low strain hard region surrounded by high-strain soft hepatic tissues with clear but irregular boundaries. Sequential elastograms with the lesion boundaries sketched showed that the lesion area grew in the first 3 minutes after ethanol injection and then reached a plateau, which corresponded to the gross specimen.


CONCLUSIONS
Ultrasound elastography can be used to detect and evaluate the diffusion of ethanol-induced hepatic lesion.
Cui
Li-Gang
LG
Department of Diagnostic Ultrasound, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100083, China.
Shao
Jin-Hua
JH
Wang
Jin-Rui
JR
Bai
Jing
J
Zhang
Yi-Zhuo
YZ
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D013552:Swine
D000431:Ethanol