title: Application of Real-Time Tissue Elastography with a Low Frequency Convex Array Probe: A Noninvasive Approach to Differential Diagnosis of Liver Tumors.
abstract: To evaluate diagnostic performance of real-time tissue elastography (RTE) with a low frequency convex array probe for distinguishing benign from malignant hepatic tumors through trans-abdominal examination, elasticity images of 210 liver tumors were obtained by EUB-7500 (Hitachi Medical Systems and 3.5 MHz probe) and eventually 121 liver tumors were analyzed in the study. Elasticity images were classified into four types, from type a to d. Regarding type a or b as benign tumors and type c or d as malignant ones, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were calculated and the consistency between the findings of RTE and the pathohistological diagnosis was evaluated. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were separately 97.2%, 88.0%, and 93.4% (P < 0.001). Moreover, there was a good consistency between the findings of RTE and the pathological diagnosis (kappa value 0.86). Among elasticity images of all the malignant tumors, the hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) mainly appeared in type c, and liver metastatic cancers in type d. Thus, RTE utilized as a novel noninvasive imaging examination method enables us to distinguish benign from malignant liver tumors. Moreover, it provides certain information for the differential diagnosis between HCCs and liver metastatic cancers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasonography, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi 710061, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7379-7522
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasonography, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi 710061, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasonography, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi 710061, China.
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasonography, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi 710061, China.
authors.forename: Lifang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi 710061, China.
authors.forename: Huilin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasonography, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi 710061, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasonography, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi 710061, China.
authors.forename: Litao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ruan