title: Shear wave elastography in hepatitis C patients before and after antiviral therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate shear wave (SW) propagation velocity in patients with untreated hepatitis C and patients with sustained virological response (SVR).
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 136 hepatitis C patients [85 patients who had not received antiviral therapy (naïve group) and 51 patients who had received antiviral therapy and subsequently achieved SVR of at least 24 wk (SVR group)] and 58 healthy volunteers and outpatients without liver disease (control group) underwent evaluation of liver stiffness by SW elastography (SWE). Various parameters were evaluated in the chronic hepatitis C patients at the time of SWE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SW propagation velocity (Vs) was 1.23 ± 0.14 m/s in the control group, 1.56 ± 0.32 m/s in the SVR group, and 1.69 ± 0.31 m/s in the naïve group. Significant differences were seen between the control group and the SVR group (P= 0.0000) and between the SVR group and the naïve group (P= 0.01417). All four fibrosis markers were higher in the naïve group than in the SVR group. In the naïve group, Vs was positively correlated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (r= 0.5372), α feto protein (AFP) (r= 0.4389), type IV collagen (r= 0.5883), procollagen III peptide (P-III-P) (r= 0.4140), hyaluronic acid (r= 0.4551), and Mac-2 binding protein glycosylation isomer (M2BPGi) (r= 0.6092) and negatively correlated with albumin (r= -0.4289), platelets (r= -0.5372), and prothrombin activity (r= -0.5235). On multiple regression analysis, Vs was the most strongly correlated with ALT (standard partial regression std β = 0.4039,P= 0.00000). In the SVR group, Vs was positively correlated with AFP (r= 0.6977), type IV collagen (r= 0.5228), P-III-P (r= 0.5812), hyaluronic acid (r= 0.5189), and M2BPGi (r= 0.6251) and negatively correlated with albumin (r= -0.4283), platelets (r= -0.4842), and prothrombin activity (r= -0.4771). On multiple regression analysis, Vs was strongly correlated with AFP (standard partial regression std β = 0.5953,P= 0.00000) and M2BPGi (standard partial regression std β= 0.2969,P= 0.03363).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In hepatitis C patients, liver stiffness is higher in treatment-naïve patients than in those showing SVR. SWE may be a predictor of hepatocarcinogenesis in SVR patients.
authors.affiliation: Toshikuni Suda, Osamu Okawa, Rion Masaoka, Yoshinori Gyotoku, Naohiko Tokutomi, Yasumi Katayama, Masaya Tamano, Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama 343-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshikuni
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suda
authors.affiliation: Toshikuni Suda, Osamu Okawa, Rion Masaoka, Yoshinori Gyotoku, Naohiko Tokutomi, Yasumi Katayama, Masaya Tamano, Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama 343-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Okawa
authors.affiliation: Toshikuni Suda, Osamu Okawa, Rion Masaoka, Yoshinori Gyotoku, Naohiko Tokutomi, Yasumi Katayama, Masaya Tamano, Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama 343-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Rion
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Masaoka
authors.affiliation: Toshikuni Suda, Osamu Okawa, Rion Masaoka, Yoshinori Gyotoku, Naohiko Tokutomi, Yasumi Katayama, Masaya Tamano, Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama 343-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gyotoku
authors.affiliation: Toshikuni Suda, Osamu Okawa, Rion Masaoka, Yoshinori Gyotoku, Naohiko Tokutomi, Yasumi Katayama, Masaya Tamano, Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama 343-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Naohiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tokutomi
authors.affiliation: Toshikuni Suda, Osamu Okawa, Rion Masaoka, Yoshinori Gyotoku, Naohiko Tokutomi, Yasumi Katayama, Masaya Tamano, Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama 343-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.affiliation: Toshikuni Suda, Osamu Okawa, Rion Masaoka, Yoshinori Gyotoku, Naohiko Tokutomi, Yasumi Katayama, Masaya Tamano, Department of Gastroenterology, Dokkyo Medical University Koshigaya Hospital, Saitama 343-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamano
keywords: Antiviral therapy; Hepatitis C; Hepatocarcinogenesis; Shear wave elastography; Sustained virological response