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. 2019 Oct;38(4):327-335.
doi: 10.14366/usg.18071. Epub 2019 Feb 14.

Patchy echogenicity of the liver in patients with chronic hepatitis B does not indicate poorer elasticity

Size Wu  1 , Rong Tu  2 , Xian Liang  1
Affiliations

Patchy echogenicity of the liver in patients with chronic hepatitis B does not indicate poorer elasticity

Size Wu et al. Ultrasonography. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate whether the presence of patchy echogenicity in the liver of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is predictive of liver stiffness.

Methods: A total of 200 CHB patients with and without patchy echogenicity of the liver were assigned to two groups, with 100 patients in each group, and 32 of them underwent liver biopsy. Additionally, 80 healthy subjects, 100 inactive HBV carriers, and 100 patients with decompensated hepatic cirrhosis were assigned to the control groups. Laboratory tests and clinical data were collected, and shear wave velocity (SWV) of the liver was measured for all 480 subjects.

Results: The median SWV in patients with a normal liver, inactive hepatitis B virus carriers, CHB patients with and without patchy echogenicity, and decompensated hepatic cirrhosis were 1.07 m/sec, 1.08 m/sec, 1.16 m/sec, 1.16 m/sec, and 2.02 m/sec, respectively; there was no significant difference in SWV values between CHB patients with patchy echogenicity and those without patchy echogenicity. Furthermore, among CHB patients with and without patchy echogenicity, no significant difference in SWV was found according to fibrosis stage.

Conclusion: The presence of patchy echogenicity of the liver does not indicate a higher degree of liver stiffness.

Keywords: Hepatitis B, chronic; Patchy echogenicity of the liver; Point shear wave elastography; Shear wave velocity; Ultrasonography.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. Flowchart of sample selection.
HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase; CHB, chronic hepatitis B; HBV, hepatitis B virus.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. Example of measurement of shear wave velocity of the liver using point shear wave elastography.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.. A 64-year-old man with chronic hepatitis B.
High-frequency ultrasonography shows heterogeneous coarse liver parenchyma.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.. A 34-year-old man with chronic hepatitis B.
High-frequency ultrasonography shows coarse and patchy hyperechogenicity (cursors) in the liver parenchyma.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.. A 41-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis B.
High-frequency ultrasonography shows coarse and patchy hyperechogenicity (cursors) in the liver parenchyma.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 6.. A 53-year-old man with chronic hepatitis B.
High-frequency ultrasonography shows coarse, patchy hyperechogenicity and hypoechogenicity (cursors) in the liver parenchyma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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