title: Acoustic radiation force impulse-imaging in the assessment of liver fibrosis in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acoustic radiation force impulse-imaging (ARFI) uses sound waves to interrogate the mechanical stiffness of a tissue.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the usefulness of ARFI for estimating liver fibrosis in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective masked study of children with chronic liver disease (CLD) and/or before liver transplant (LT) comparing ARFI with histopathological analysis. Children with no history of liver disease served as a control group. ARFI was performed with Virtual Touch software using ACUSON S2000. Share wave velocities (SWV) of several regions within the liver were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-two children were studied (mean age 8 years; range 1-16 years). The abnormal group included 10 children (31%) with CLD and 22 (69%) planned for LT. There were 20 normal controls. Mean SWV was 1.42 m/s in the abnormal group and 1.11 m/s [corrected] in the controls. For diagnosis of fibrosis stage ≥ F1, ≥F2 and F4, the areas under the receiver-operator characteristics curves were 0.834, 0.818 and 0.983, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SWV is related to the degree of liver fibrosis in children, and may be a non-invasive alternative to biopsy.
authors: Department of Radiology, Hospital Pediátrico de Coimbra, Coimbra, 3000, Portugal. mjtnoruegas@gmail.com
authors: Maria José
authors: MJ
authors: Noruegas
authors: Hugo
authors: H
authors: Matos
authors: Isabel
authors: I
authors: Gonçalves
authors: Maria Augusta
authors: MA
authors: Cipriano
authors: Conceição
authors: C
authors: Sanches
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012984:Software; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric