Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2007 Sep;1(3):394-7.
doi: 10.1007/s12072-007-9012-7. Epub 2007 Jul 21.

Assessing liver tumor stiffness by transient elastography

Ryota Masuzaki  1 , Ryosuke Tateishi, Haruhiko Yoshida, Takahisa Sato, Takamasa Ohki, Tadashi Goto, Hideo Yoshida, Shinpei Sato, Yosuke Sugioka, Hitoshi Ikeda, Shuichiro Shiina, Takao Kawabe, Masao Omata
Affiliations

Assessing liver tumor stiffness by transient elastography

Ryota Masuzaki et al. Hepatol Int. 2007 Sep.

Abstract

Background and aims: Transient elastography is a novel noninvasive method to assess liver fibrosis by measuring liver stiffness. This study is a first step toward the provision of a noninvasive measurement of hepatic tumor stiffness by transient elastography.

Patients and methods: Patients with liver tumor larger than 5 cm in diameter and located near the liver surface were enrolled between June 2004 and February 2005. Histology of each tumor was evaluated on ultrasound-guided liver biopsy specimens. Transient elastography (Fibroscan, Echosens, Paris) was used to measure tumor stiffness. Tumor stiffness was measured as follows. First, by using B-mode ultrasound, we searched for the optimal right intercostal position for tumor stiffness measurement while keeping the ultrasound probe and body surface at right angles. Then the vibrator for transient elastography was applied at the same position and angle, and stiffness was measured according to the manufacturer's instruction.

Results: Tumor stiffness was measured in 40 patients, 17 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), six with cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC), 16 with metastatic tumors (mostly adenocarcinoma), and one with malignant lymphoma. The median value was 55 kPa in HCC, 75 kPa in CCC, 66.5 kPa in metastatic tumor, and 16.9 kPa in malignant lymphoma. The stiffness value of CCC was significantly higher than that of HCC and metastatic tumors (P = .049).

Conclusion: We showed that stiffness of liver tumors could be measured with transient elastography. Improvements in the device, such as smaller and variable region of interest of measurement and real-time B-mode display, may ensure wider clinical application.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of tumor stiffness values in kilopascals. Tumor stiffness is significantly higher in the CCC than HCC and metastatic tumors
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Eklund A, Bergh A, Lindahl OA. A catheter tactile sensor for measuring hardness of soft tissue: measurement in a silicone model and in an in vitro human prostate model. Med Biol Eng Comput 1999;37:618–24 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ophir J, Garra B, Kallel F, Konofagou E, Krouskop T, Righetti R, et al. Elastographic imaging. Ultrasound Med Biol 2000;26(Suppl 1):S23–9 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bercoff J, Chaffai S, Tanter M, Sandrin L, Catheline S, Fink M, et al. In vivo breast tumor detection using transient elastography. Ultrasound Med Biol 2003;29:1387–96 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kusaka K, Harihara Y, Torzilli G, Kubota K, Takayama T, Makuuchi M, et al. Objective evaluation of liver consistency to estimate hepatic fibrosis and functional reserve for hepatectomy. J Am Coll Surg 2000;191:47–53 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gao L, Parker KJ, Lerner RM, Levinson SF. Imaging of the elastic properties of tissue—a review. Ultrasound Med Biol 1996;22:959–77 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources