Assessment of the utility of two-dimensional shear wave elastography and superb microvascular imaging in postoperative patients with biliary atresia
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In brief
In brief
This study evaluates non-invasive ultrasound techniques for monitoring liver fibrosis in children after biliary atresia surgery. Two-dimensional shear wave elastography showed significant correlation with biochemical fibrosis markers, while superb microvascular imaging demonstrated elevated vascular grading in BA patients but lacked correlation with fibrosis indices.
- 2D-SWE liver stiffness values correlate significantly with APRI and FIB-4 indices in postoperative biliary atresia patients
- SMI vascular tree grading is significantly elevated in BA patients compared to choledochal cyst and other hepatobiliary disorders
- 2D-SWE shows promise as a non-invasive tool for monitoring liver fibrosis progression during postoperative BA follow-up
- SMI vascular grading did not correlate with biochemical fibrosis markers, limiting its utility for fibrosis assessment in BA
- SWE values in BA patients were not significantly different from other disease groups, suggesting disease-specific interpretation is needed
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Abstract
Purpose
We aimed to investigate whether prediction of liver fibrosis using two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) and vascular tree grading using superb microvascular imaging (SMI) are useful for postoperative follow-up in patients with biliary atresia (BA).
Methods
We retrospectively collected data from medical records of 134 patients who underwent ultrasound examination with 2D-SWE or SMI, including 13 postoperative patients with BA and 121 non-BA patients. We investigated the distribution of liver stiffness values with SWE and vascular tree grading with SMI and evaluated correlations between these findings and biochemical indices of liver fibrosis in postoperative BA patients.
Results
The SWE values of the BA group were not significantly different from that of any other disease groups in non-BA patients. In postoperative BA patients, SWE values correlated significantly with aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (Spearman rank correlation coefficient [rs] = 0.6380, p = 0.0256) and with the Fib-4 index (rs = 0.6526, p = 0.0214). SMI vascular tree grading of the BA group was significantly higher than that of the choledochal cyst group (p = 0.0008) and other hepatobiliary disorder group (p = 0.0030). In postoperative BA patients, SMI vascular tree grading was not positively correlated with any biochemical marker of fibrosis.
Conclusion
2D-SWE appears to be useful for follow-up in postoperative BA patients.