title: Measurement of spleen stiffness by acoustic radiation force impulse imaging identifies cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated whether spleen stiffness (SS), measured by acoustic radiation force impulse imaging, can identify patients who have esophageal varices (EVs); those without EVs would not require endoscopic examination.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a prospective study, we measured SS and liver stiffness (LS) in 340 patients with cirrhosis undergoing endoscopic screening for EVs and 16 healthy volunteers (controls) at the Kurashiki Central Hospital in Okayama, Japan. The diagnostic accuracy of SS for the presence of EVs was compared with that of other noninvasive parameters (LS, spleen diameter, and platelet count). Optimal cutoff values of SS were chosen to confidently rule out the presence of varices.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with cirrhosis had significantly higher SS and LS values than controls (P < .0001 and P < .0001, respectively). Levels of SS were higher among patients with EVs (n = 132) than controls, and values were highest among patients with high-risk EVs (n = 87). SS had the greatest diagnostic accuracy for the identification of patients with EVs or high-risk EVs compared with other noninvasive parameters, independent of the etiology of cirrhosis. An SS cutoff value of 3.18 m/s identified patients with EVs with a 98.4% negative predictive value, 98.5% sensitivity, 75.0% accuracy, and 0.025 negative likelihood ratio. An SS cutoff value of 3.30 m/s identified patients with high-risk EVs with a 99.4% negative predictive value, 98.9% sensitivity, 72.1% accuracy, and 0.018 negative likelihood ratio. SS values less than 3.3 m/s ruled out the presence of high-risk varices in patients with compensated or decompensated cirrhosis. SS could not be measured in 16 patients (4.5%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Measurements of SS can be used to identify patients with cirrhosis with EVs or high-risk EVs. A cutoff SS was identified that could rule out the presence of varices and could be used as an initial noninvasive screening test; UMIN Clinical Trials Registry number, UMIN000004363.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Kurashiki Central Hospital, Okayama, Japan. takuma@enjoy.ne.jp
authors.forename: Yoshitaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takuma
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nouso
authors.forename: Youichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tomokuni
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sahara
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toshikuni
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takabatake
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimomura
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sakakibara
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsueda
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019540:Area Under Curve; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D004932:Esophageal and Gastric Varices / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D009929:Organ Size; D010976:Platelet Count; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult