Two-Dimensional Shear Wave Elastography Predicts Liver Fibrosis in Jaundiced Infants with Suspected Biliary Atresia: A Prospective Study
Huadong Chen, Luyao Zhou, Bing Liao, Qinghua Cao, Hong Jiang, Wenying Zhou, G. Wang, Xiaoyan Xie
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the role of preoperative two-dimensional (2D) shear wave elastography (SWE) in assessing the stages of liver fibrosis in patients with suspected biliary atresia (BA) and compared its diagnostic performance with those of serum fibrosis biomarkers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was approved by the ethical committee, and written informed parental consent was obtained. Two hundred and sixteen patients were prospectively enrolled between January 2012 and October 2018. The 2D SWE measurements of 69 patients have been previously reported. 2D SWE measurements, serum fibrosis biomarkers, including fibrotic markers and biochemical test results, and liver histology parameters were obtained. 2D SWE values, serum biomarkers including, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRi), and other serum fibrotic markers were correlated with the stages of liver fibrosis by METAVIR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the ROC (AUROC) curve analyses were used. RESULTS: < 0.005) and other serum biomarkers. Multivariate analysis showed that the 2D SWE value was the only statistically significant parameter for predicting liver fibrosis. CONCLUSION: 2D SWE is a more effective non-invasive tool for predicting the stage of liver fibrosis in patients with suspected BA, compared with serum fibrosis biomarkers.