title: Utility of Shear Wave Elastography for Differentiating Biliary Atresia From Infantile Hepatitis Syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential utility of shear wave elastography (SWE) for diagnosis of biliary atresia and for differentiating biliary atresia from infantile hepatitis syndrome by measuring liver stiffness.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight patients with biliary atresia and 17 patients with infantile hepatitis syndrome were included, along with 31 healthy control infants. The 3 groups underwent SWE. The hepatic tissue of each patient with biliary atresia had been surgically biopsied. Statistical analyses for mean values of the 3 groups were performed. Optimum cutoff values using SWE for differentiation between the biliary atresia and control groups were calculated by a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean SWE values ± SD for the 3 groups were as follows: biliary atresia group, 20.46 ± 10.19 kPa; infantile hepatitis syndrome group, 6.29 ± 0.99 kPa; and control group, 6.41 ± 1.08 kPa. The mean SWE value for the biliary atresia group was higher than the values for the control and infantile hepatitis syndrome groups (P < .01). The mean SWE values between the control and infantile hepatitis syndrome groups were not statistically different. The ROC analysis showed a cutoff value of 8.68 kPa for differentiation between the biliary atresia and control groups. The area under the ROC curve was 0.997, with sensitivity of 97.4%, specificity of 100%, a positive predictive value of 100%, and a negative predictive value of 96.9%. Correlation analysis suggested a positive correlation between SWE values and age for patients with biliary atresia, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.463 (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significant increase in liver SWE values in neonates and infants with biliary atresia supports their application for differentiating biliary atresia from infantile hepatitis syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoman
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China qianlinxue2002@163.com.
authors.forename: Linxue
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Liqun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bellah
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xin
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qinglin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D001656:Biliary Atresia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013577:Syndrome
keywords: biliary atresia; infant; infantile hepatitis syndrome; pediatric ultrasound; shear wave elastography; sonography