Liver and Spleen Stiffness Measurements by Sound Touch Elastography and Sound Touch Quantification

doi:10.37015/AUDT.2020.190038

Advanced Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Therapy ›› 2020, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (4): 315-321.doi: 10.37015/AUDT.2020.190038

• Original Research • Previous Articles Next Articles

Liver and Spleen Stiffness Measurements by Sound Touch Elastography and Sound Touch Quantification

Jian Zheng, MD^a^,^b^,¹, Manli Wu, MD^c^,¹, Qingjuan Wang, MD^a, Rizhen Gu, MD^a, Xiaohong Yao, MD^a, Yuansen Chen, MD^a, Jing Huang, MD^a, Lexiang Long, MD^a, Rongqin Zheng, MD^c^,^*()

^a Department of Medical Ultrasound, Third Hospital of Longgang, Shenzhen, China
^b Department of Medical Ultrasound, Longgang District People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, The Third Affiliated Hospital (Provisional) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
^c Department of Medical Ultrasound, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Liver Disease Research, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

Received:2019-11-19 Online:2020-12-30 Published:2020-09-29
Contact: Rongqin Zheng, MD, E-mail:zhengrq@mail.sysu.edu.cn

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Abstract

Abstract:

Objective: To evaluate the technical success rate and reproducibility of sound touch elastography (STE) and sound touch quantification (STQ) in liver and spleen stiffness measurement and the reference ranges of normal liver and spleen stiffness. We also compared with a previous validated acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) technique.
Methods: Two hundred and fifty-three healthy adults and 40 chronic hepatitis B patients were recruited. All patients underwent liver and spleen stiffness measurements using STE, STQ, and ARFI. A hundred and five patients (36 patients with chronic hepatitis and 69 healthy adults) were examined twice, by two trained sonographers who are familiar with STE and STQ techniques independently. Another 36 healthy adults were examined twice by ARFI imaging. The technical success rates and reproducibility were evaluated.
Results: The success rates of STE, STQ, and ARFI were 96.5%, 95.1%, and 94.8% in liver, and 87.5%, 84.0%, and 78.0% in spleen, respectively. The inter-observer reproducibility of STE, STQ and ARFI were 0.914, 0.896, and 0.845 in liver, and 0.629, 0.601, and 0.543 in spleen, respectively. When the thickness of spleen was greater than 30mm, the reproducibility was 0.704 in STE and 0.668 in STQ. The normal ranges of liver stiffness were 5.80-6.04 kPa measured by STE and 5.87-6.13 kPa measured by STQ, and normal spleen stiffness ranged from 14.83-15.54 kPa measured by STE and 15.85-16.62 kPa measured by STQ.
Conclusion: Our study showed STE and STQ in liver and spleen stiffness measurement had a high success rate with good reproducibility, which were comparable to ARFI. The inter-observer reproducibility of spleen was barely satisfactory, but was good when the thickness of spleen was greater than 30mm.

Key words: Liver stiffness; Spleen stiffness; Sound touch elastography; Sound touch quantification; Elasticity imaging techniques

Jian Zheng, MD, Manli Wu, MD, Qingjuan Wang, MD, Rizhen Gu, MD, Xiaohong Yao, MD, Yuansen Chen, MD, Jing Huang, MD, Lexiang Long, MD, Rongqin Zheng, MD. Liver and Spleen Stiffness Measurements by Sound Touch Elastography and Sound Touch Quantification. Advanced Ultrasound in Diagnosis and Therapy, 2020, 4(4): 315-321.

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Liver and Spleen Stiffness Measurements by Sound Touch Elastography and Sound Touch Quantification

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