title: Shear wave elastography of the spleen: evaluation of spleen stiffness in healthy volunteers.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the mean value of spleen stiffness measured by Shear wave elastography in healthy patients and its dependence on age, sex, and spleen dimensions, and to evaluate the repeatability of this method.
  
  
  
  The final study group included 59 healthy volunteers without any clinical evidence of liver disease, portal hypertension, hematological disorders, and without any pathological ultrasonographic spleen findings. Each patient underwent abdominal ultrasound examination and elastography of the liver and the spleen.
  
  
  
  The mean value of spleen stiffness was 16.6 ± 2.5 kPa. In the group of men (N = 25), it was 17.3 ± 2.7 kPa, and in the group of women (N = 34), it was 16.1 ± 2.2 kPa. The study confirmed no correlation between spleen stiffness and sex, age of patients, and spleen size. Coefficient of repeatability and correlation coefficient between the results of the first and the second measurement showed good but not ideal repeatability of the measurement results.
  
  
  
  Our outcomes may be a reference point for evaluating spleen stiffness in research on patients with various illnesses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland. apawlus@wp.pl.|Department of General and Pediatric Radiology, Independent Public Clinical Hospital Number 1, Ul. M. Curie-Skłodowskiej 68, 50-369, Wrocław, Poland. apawlus@wp.pl.
authors.forename: Aleksander
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8144-2366
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pawluś
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Pediatric Radiology, Independent Public Clinical Hospital Number 1, Ul. M. Curie-Skłodowskiej 68, 50-369, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Marcin S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Inglot
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Kinga
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Szymańska
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Pediatric Radiology, Independent Public Clinical Hospital Number 1, Ul. M. Curie-Skłodowskiej 68, 50-369, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaczorowski
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: Bartosz D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Markiewicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology and Pediatrics, J. Gronkowski Provincial Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaczorowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Jacek
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gąsiorowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szymczak
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Wroclaw Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inglot
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bladowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.|Department of General and Pediatric Radiology, Independent Public Clinical Hospital Number 1, Ul. M. Curie-Skłodowskiej 68, 50-369, Wrocław, Poland.
authors.forename: Urszula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Zaleska-Dorobisz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Elastography; SWE; Shear wave elastography; Spleen