Correlation study on virtual touch tissue quantification and the pathological stages of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the correlation between virtual touch tissue quantification (VTQ) and the pathological grading of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis B.Methods 64 chronic hepatitis B patients (the chronic hepatitis group) and 40 healthy volunteers (the controlled group) were collected.The patients in the chronic hepatitis group were underwent liver biopsy.According to the hepatic fibrosis degree,the patients in the test group were classified into stage 0,1,2,3 and 4.The liver shear wave velocities (SWV) of all the participant were measured by VTQ.The cut-off values were determined by an analysis of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results The mean SWV was (1.04± 0.13)m/s in the controlled group.The SWV in stages 0,1,2,3,and 4 were (1.17 ± 0.08)m/s,(1.33 ± 0.32)m/s,(1.53 ±0.32) m/s,(2.09 ± 0.54) m/s,(2.18 ± 0.70) m/s,respectively.There was a significantly difference in SWV between the controlled group and the chronic hepatitis group (F =34.97,P =0.00).The SWV were significantly different not only between stages 0-2,and 3,but also between 0-2 and 4 (F =8.87,P =0.00).A positive correlation was observed between the liver fibrosis and the SWV in the chronic hepatitis group (r =0.67,P =0.00).When a cut off value was set at 1.43 m/s,area under ROC curve was 0.875.The sensitivity and specificity were 100 ％ and 62.5 ％.Conclusions SWV has a better correlation with liver fibrosis.VTQ can make an accurate assessment for stage 3 and stage 4 of the chronic hepatitis B.Therefore,VTQ can be used as a noninvasive and reliable diagnostic indicator for chronic hepatitis B.