title: Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging for evaluation of antiviral treatment response in chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Antiviral therapy can stop progression of liver fibrosis and partially reverse it. Non-invasive methods have shown good diagnostic accuracies for the assessment of liver fibrosis. First studies have shown that transient elastography (TE) can be used to monitor fibrosis after antiviral therapy. Acoustic-Radiation-Force-Impulse (ARFI)-Imaging is an elastography method integrated in a conventional ultrasound machine. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate a significant difference of ARFI-values in patients with sustained-virological-response (SVR) as compared to patients without.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-eight patients infected with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) who had completed antiviral treatment were prospectively included in the study and received ARFI-imaging, TE and laboratory evaluation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significantly lower ARFI and TE values were observed for 47 patients with SVR as compared to 51 patients without SVR (1.37 m/s vs. 2.00,p=0.0021; 4.9 kPa vs. 11.1 kPa,p<0.001), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Liver stiffness values and shear wave velocity using ultrasound-based elastography methods are different in patients with SVR as compared to patients without SVR after antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C. However, the causes of this difference (fibrosis regression, cytolysis, baseline fibrosis) remain unclear and require further evaluation in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Forestier
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gaus
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herrmann
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sarrazin
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bojunga
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Poynard
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albert
authors.forename: Ludmila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: Maximilian-David
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dultz
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeuzem
authors.forename: Mireen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Friedrich-Rust
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012254:Ribavirin