Comparison of point and two-dimensional shear wave elastography of the spleen in healthy subjects

Abstract

BACKGROUND Few systematic comparative studies of the different methods of physical elastography of the spleen are currently available. AIM To compare point shear wave and two-dimensional elastography of the spleen considering the anatomical location (upper, hilar, and lower pole). METHODS As part of a prospective clinical study, healthy volunteers were examined for splenic elasticity using four different ultrasound devices between May 2015 and April 2017. The devices used for point shear wave elastography were from Siemens (S 3000) and Philips (Epiq 7), and those used for two-dimensional shear wave elastography were from GE (Logiq E9) and Toshiba (Aplio 500). In addition, two different software versions (5.0 and 6.0) were evaluated for the Toshiba ultrasound device (Aplio 500). The study consisted of three arms: A, B, and C. RESULTS In study arm A, 200 subjects were evaluated (78 males and 122 females, mean age 27.9 ± 8.1 years). In study arm B, 113 subjects were evaluated (38 men and 75 women, mean age 26.0 ± 6.3 years). In study arm C, 44 subjects were enrolled. A significant correlation of the shear wave velocities at the upper third of the spleen ( r = 0.33088, P < 0.0001) was demonstrated only for the Philips Epiq 7 device compared to the Siemens Acuson S 3000. In comparisons of the other ultrasound devices (GE, Siemens, Toshiba), no comparable results could be obtained for any anatomical position of the spleen. The influencing factors age, gender, and body mass index did not show a clear correlation with the measured shear wave velocities. CONCLUSION The absolute values of the shear wave elastography measurements of the spleen and the two different elastography methods are not comparable between different manufacturers or models.

Splenic Stiffness Measured by 3-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Elastography Is Correlated with Age in Healthy Individuals

“…Albayrak et al used SWE and reported that SS did not differ according to sex and age [10]. Several other studies are also in agreement with these findings showing a lack of relationship between ultrasonography-measured SS and age and sex [2,21,36,37]. Despite these findings, the results of our study are of interest since it is the first study that included only healthy volunteers and was conducted using 3T MRE.…”

Splenic Stiffness Measured by 3-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Elastography Is Correlated with Age in Healthy Individuals

“…Albayrak et al used SWE and reported that SS did not differ according to sex and age [10]. Several other studies are also in agreement with these findings showing a lack of relationship between ultrasonography-measured SS and age and sex [2,21,36,37]. Despite these findings, the results of our study are of interest since it is the first study that included only healthy volunteers and was conducted using 3T MRE.…”

Spleen and Liver Stiffness Evaluation by ARFI Imaging: A Reliable Tool for a Short-Term Monitoring of Portal Hypertension?

“…Previously published results demonstrated a variability of stiffness results depending on the location of ARFI investigation in the spleen [25]. Therefore, we performed ARFI SSM measurements at three defined areas in the spleen (Figure 4) both at baseline and follow-up visits and compared the values obtained in these regions with the SSM values for the whole spleen: ARFI values for the upper (2.55 m/s) and bottom sections (3.59 m/s) of the spleen differed significantly from the SSM results of the whole spleen (3.00 m/s, p = 0.00007 and p = 0.00008, respectively).…”

“…The difference between our study and the study of Kim et al and the other studies investigating spleen stiffness may be explained by the way elastography evaluation of the spleen was performed: in the previous studies, delta-SSM values were not evaluated examining spleen stiffness repetitively on the same region of the spleen, but on different spots at the baseline and follow-up investigations. However, in a recently published study, a significant variation of results for spleen ARFI elastography was demonstrated depending where and how a "region of interest" is placed [25]. The results of ARFI performance can significantly vary dependent on the upper, hilar, or bottom third of the spleen investigated.…”