Hepatic Steatosis: Assessment with Acoustic Structure Quantification of US Imaging

Abstract

).q RSNA, 2015 Purpose:To investigate the diagnostic performance of acoustic structure quantification (ASQ) for the assessment of hepatic steatosis by using hydrogen 1 ( 1 H) magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy as the reference standard and to compare ASQ with hepatorenal ratio. Materials andMethods:This prospective study was approved by an institutional review board, and informed written consent was obtained from all participants. ASQ and MR spectroscopy were performed in 89 participants (mean age, 41.48 years 6 14.16; 35 men, 54 women) without history of chronic liver disease. Obtained were focal disturbance (FD) ratio by using ASQ, hepatic fat fraction (HFF) by using MR spectroscopy, and hepatorenal ratio by using a histogram. Correlation coefficient, intraclass correlation coefficient, and receiver operating curve analyses were performed. Results:FD ratio measured with ASQ had a strong linear correlation with HFF measured with MR spectroscopy after logarithmic transformation of both variables (r = 20.87; P , .001). By using HFF of 5.79% as a cutoff value of 10% hepatic steatosis, 29 of 89 participants (32.6%) were categorized into the group with hepatic steatosis of 10% or greater (mean HFF, 13.18% 6 4.89). The area under curve of the FD ratio for diagnosing hepatic steatosis 10% or greater was 0.959 (95% confidence interval: 0.895, 0.990) with sensitivity of 86.2% (95% confidence interval: 68.3%, 96.0%) and specificity of 100% (95% confidence interval: 94.0%, 100.0%) by using a cutoff value of 0.1; the area under curve and specificity of the FD ratio were significantly higher than those of the hepatorenal ratio (respectively, 0.772 and 73.3%; respective P values, .001 and ,.001). Conclusion:This pilot study in a cohort of patients with hepatic steatosis without other parenchymal disease suggested ASQ may be valuable for the quantification of hepatic steatosis and detection of hepatic steatosis 10% or greater in living liver donors.q RSNA, 2015

Accuracy of Liver Fat Quantification With Advanced CT, MRI, and Ultrasound Techniques: Prospective Comparison With MR Spectroscopy

“…Our results also show that US-SWE is essentially independent of liver fat content. Other new techniques, such as acoustic structure quantification, which were not used in our study, have been reported to serve as quantitative biomarkers, at least in subjects with clinically significant steatosis [52]. …”

Robust sound speed estimation for ultrasound-based hepatic steatosis assessment

“…This CAP technique is performed in conjunction with liver fibrosis assessment based on 1D Transient Elastography (Foucher et al 2006b, Sandrin et al 2002. Other recent studies have used ultrasound to detect steatosis (Lin et al 2015, Son et al 2015 but they are based on a single cutoff value. Beyond such binary below/above diagnosis, there is a real clinical unmet need for a non-expensive, widely available, and highly reliable technique to precisely grade hepatic steatosis as MRI does.…”

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Living-Donor Liver Transplantation

“…Medical imaging has progressed rapidly in recent years. Several noninvasive methods have been developed for quantification of fat content, one of those is acoustic structure quantification of ultrasonography, which allows detection of hepatic steatosis that is 10% or greater in living liver donors [5]. This new technique has increased sensitivity in quantification of hepatic steatosis [6]; but there is still need for more precise quantification for living donor selection.…”