Comparison of ultrasound colored image views produced by application of statistical analysis of radio-frequency signals and histological findings in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the tissue characteristics of chronic liver disease, we statistically analyzed the speckle signal from liver parenchyma.


METHODS
Analysis was performed for 65 patients with biopsy-proven chronic hepatitis C; individuals with fatty liver, heavy drinkers, and those with a thick abdominal wall were excluded. The probability density function of radio-frequency signal amplitude was statistically analyzed using a new analytical method. We focused on strong signals which deviated remarkably from the Rayleigh distribution. By applying the analytical results, lesions that caused the strong signals were displayed as red scatter overlaid on B-mode images (we called the red scatter "US-Red" in this study). US-Red% occupancy on the color image was statistically compared with pathological findings.


RESULTS
US-Red suggests the existence of an acoustic reflectional plane mainly formed of fibrous bridge and septa. US-Red% increased significantly with progression of liver fibrosis stage. US-Red% varied widely in cirrhosis, and US-Red% in the large nodule group was significantly higher than that in the small nodule group.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that US-Red% is useful for evaluating liver fibrosis stage (F1-3) and the size of nodules in cirrhosis. In addition, visually detecting the acoustic reflectional plane, which increases with progression of disease, as color images will be clinically beneficial.
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University Omori Medical Center, 6-11-1 Omorinishi, Ota, Tokyo, 143-8541, Japan. sunny200x@hotmail.com.
Sanae
S
Nakajima
Department of Pathology, Toho University Omori Medical Center, 6-11-1 Omorinishi, Ota, Tokyo, 143-8541, Japan.
Kazutoshi
K
Shibuya
Ultrasound Systems Division, Toshiba Medical Systems Corp, 1385 Shimo-ishigami, Otawara, Tochigi, 324-8550, Japan.
Naohisa
N
Kamiyama
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Toho University Omori Medical Center, 6-11-1 Omorinishi, Ota, Tokyo, 143-8541, Japan.
Yasukiyo
Y
Sumino
Acoustic reflectional plane; Probability density function; Rayleigh distribution; Speckle; Tissue characterization