Ultrasonic elastography in clinical quantitative assessment of fatty liver.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinical application of ultrasonic elastography in quantitative assessment of fatty liver grading.


METHODS
A total of 105 patients with fatty liver were divided into mild group (n = 46), moderate group (n = 39), and severe group (n = 20). Forty-five healthy individuals served as a normal control group. All patients who underwent routine ultrasound scan and further ultrasonic elastography were evaluated accordingly to the evaluation standards for ultrasonic elastography. The ratio of surface areas of blue region/total surface area in the desired region was measured.


RESULTS
Ultrasonic elastography technique, in comparison to traditional ultrasound, had a rather high consistence in grading of fatty liver [κ value = (95.3%-63.6%)/(1%-63.6%) = 0.87, P = 0.001]. The score of ultrasonic elastography increased with the severity of fatty liver with a sensitivity of 97.14% and a specificity of 91.11%. A significant difference was found in the ratio of surface areas of blue regions between different groups (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Ultrasonic elastography can be used in quantitative assessment of the severity of fatty liver.
Li
Yin-Yan
YY
Department of Ultrasonic Diagnosis, the First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China.
Wang
Xue-Mei
XM
Zhang
Yi-Xia
YX
Ou
Guo-Cheng
GC
D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity