Hepatic and kidney gray-scale ratio: a new index for quantifying hepatic fibrosis degree / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate hepatic parenchyma and kidney cortex's gray-scale ratio as a new index in evaluating hepatic fibrosis degree.Methods Sixty patients with hepatic fibrosis verified by liver biopsy and 40 normal individuals used as controls were scanned with Acuson Sequoia 512 with the same set-up of all the parameters.The hepatic-right kidney section was selected for offline analysis.The gray-scale value of near-area hepatic,mid-area hepatic,far-area hepatic parenchyma and right kidney cortex were measured by histogram of Photoshop software.The gray-scale ratio of hepatic parenchyma to kidney cortex was calculated and compared with the hepatic firbrosis degree.Results With development of hepatic fibrosis,the ratio of hepatic and kidney gray-scale value was increased.The results between control and experimental groups were significant(P＜0.01).Conclusions Hepatic and kidney gray-scale ratio obtained from gray scale ultrasound was rarely affected by individual conditions of acoustic windows.It could be used as a new index for diagnosing of hePatic fibrosis and evaluating its therapeutic effects.