Correlation of virtual touch tissue quantification and liver biopsy in a rat liver fibrosis model

Abstract

Liver fibrosis assessment is very important to the treatment of chronic liver disease. In the present study, Virtual Touch Tissue Quantification (VTQ) and eSie Touch™ elasticity imaging techniques were used to examine the rat liver fibrosis model. Rat liver fibrosis was induced with thioacetamide and the degree of liver fibrosis was determined using pathological diagnosis as a gold standard. The right lobe of the liver was also examined with the VTQ and eSie Touch™ techniques. The VTQ and serological results were correlated and analyzed. The results were compared with those obtained from liver biopsies to investigate the accuracy and diagnostic value of eSie Touch™ and VTQ on the classification of liver fibrosis in rats. A total of 30 successful modeling cases were obtained, with a success rate of 86%. The mean acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography‑VTQ values were 1.08, 1.51, 1.88 and 2.50 m/sec for the normal and F1/F2, F3 and F4 fibrosis groups, respectively. A significant correlation (r = 0.969) was identified between the ARFI measurements and the degree of fibrosis assessed by pathological examination (P<0.001). The histological staging results correlated with those of the eSie Touch™ elasticity imaging of the biopsy site (r = 0.913, P<0.001). The predictive values of ARFI for various stages of fibrosis were as follows: F≥1 and 2 ‑ cut‑off >1.250 m/sec (when Vs >1.250 m/sec, the pathological grading was ≥F1/F2) [Area under receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) = 1.00], F≥3 ‑ cut‑off >1.685 m/sec (when Vs >1.685 m/sec, the pathological grading was ≥F3; AUROC = 1.00) and F≥4 ‑ cut‑off >2.166 m/sec (when Vs >2.166 m/sec, the pathological grading is cirrhosis; AUROC = 1.00). In conclusion, the eSie Touch™ elasticity imaging and VTQ techniques may be successfully adopted to assess the extent of liver stiffness. These techniques are expected to replace liver biopsy.

ARFI: from basic principles to clinical applications in diffuse chronic disease—a review

“…Moreover, ARFI performed better than a scoring system based on the visual assessment of conventional US images by experienced radiologists in correlation with Child-Pugh scores and liver function tests, and better than aspartate-to-platelet ratio in predicting severe fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients with alcoholic liver disease [ 44 ]. In experimental fibrosis induced in a rat liver model, ARFI proved very reliable in the staging of fibrosis [ 45 ].…”

Longitudinal ultrasound imaging and network modeling in rats reveal sex-dependent suppression of liver regeneration after resection in alcoholic liver disease

“…Hepatocyte size measurements in male rats after PHx show significant increase at 24 h post-PHx (Miyaoka et al, 2012). Importantly, stiffness measurements were below that which would be considered as fibrosis in rats (Hu et al, 2015;Hu et al, 2017), in line with the absence of fibrosis in previous histological studies of the alcoholfeeding model (Diehl, et al, 1990;Koniaris et al, 2003;Juskeviciute et al, 2016). However, we report increases in liver stiffness similar to what has been shown in a rat model of hepatic sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (Han et al, 2019), as well as human transplant donors who underwent a liver resection (Ninomiya et al, 2011).…”

Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging With Virtual Touch Tissue Quantification Enables Characterization of Mild Hypoxic‐Ischemic Brain Damage in Neonatal Rats

“…Five measurements were made at each position, and the mean shear wave velocity was calculated. When the velocity measurement was unreliable, the measurement was repeated to ensure that the necessary number of reliable values were obtained …”