Evaluation of acoustic radiation force impulse in diagnosing non-surgical complications after liver transplantation / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the clinical significance of acoustic radiation force impulse ( ARFI) technique in the assessment of non-surgical complications after liver transplantation . Methods Three hundred and seventy-two patients with abnormal liver function after liver transplantation undergone ARFI exam before liver biopsy ( excluding surgical complications) . The shear wave velocity ( SWV ) between different groups divided according pathological results after biopsy was compared ,and SWV of 23 patients with normal liver function after liver transplantation was compared too . Moreover , 26 normal people were random selected as control group . Results ① Among the 372 patients ,there were 100 cases of rejection ,82 cases of biliary complications ,52 cases of hepatitis virus infection ,49 cases of drug induced liver injury ,56 cases of non-specific manifestation ,9 cases of steatosis ,3 cases of hypoxic-ischemic ,2 cases of inappropriate preserve injury and 19 cases of diagnosis were not clear . ② SWV of control group was ( 1 .49 ± 0 .66) m/s ,of normal liver function group was ( 1 .64 ± 0 .68) m/s ,of abnormal liver function group was ( 2 .08 ± 0 .66) m /s . Abnormal liver function group had higher SWV than normal liver function group and control group ( P < 0 .01) . There was no significant difference between normal liver function group and control group ( P > 0 .05) . ③ In the specific pathology manifestation patients ,hepatitis virus infection group had the highest SWV[ ( 2 .29 ± 0 .72) m /s] ,drug induced liver injury group had the lowest SWV [ ( 1 .94 ± 0 .57) m /s] ,and there were significant differences between two groups ( P < 0 .01) . ④ The ROC results showed that the area under curve of ARFI was 0 .688 for patients with abnormal liver function after liver transplantation , and 0 .655 for differential diagnosis between drug induced liver injury and hepatitis virus infection .Conclusions As a noninvasive technique ,ARFI is correlated with histopathology and has clinical value in the differential diagnosis of non-surgical complications after transplantation .