The accuracy of ultrasound in the detection of fatty infiltration of the liver

Foster, K. J.; Dewbury, K. C.; Griffith, A.H.; Wright, Ralph

doi:10.1259/0007-1285-53-629-440

Cited by 155 publications

(73 citation statements)

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“…Several studies have assessed the sensitivity and specifi city of ultrasound for detecting LS. In these studies, the sensitivity ranged from 60% to 94% and the specifi city from 84% to 97% [21][22][23][24] . In a sample of 94 Brazilian individuals with elevated ALT, 40% presented LS on ultrasound, and both the BMI and history of diabetes were independently associated with the presence of LS 25 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical and laboratory characteristics associated with dyslipidemia and liver steatosis in chronic HBV carriers

Nau

Soares

Shiozawa

et al. 2014

Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinical and laboratory characteristics associated with dyslipidemia and liver steatosis in chronic HBV carriers

Nau

Soares

Shiozawa

et al. 2014

Rev. Soc. Bras. Med. Trop.

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“…Liver ultrasonography (US) although not sensitive enough to assess liver fibrosis or inflammation has a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 93% for detecting histological steatosis. [7][8][9][10] In the absence of liver biopsy, presumed NASH is conventionally diagnosed by classical ultrasonographic hepatic appearances together with an elevated serum level of alanine aminotransferase (ALT). 1 The prevalence of ultrasonic fatty liver was 2.6% in 810 normal weight Japanese children aged 4-12 years, 7 and increased to 23 and 53% in obese Japanese and Italian children, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hepatic steatosis in obese Chinese children

et al. 2004

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OBJECTIVES:The aims of our study were: (1) to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic hepatic steatosis and presumed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, in our local population of obese Chinese children referred for medical assessment; and (2) to assess the correlation between severity of ultrasonographic hepatic steatosis and degree of obesity, insulin resistance and serum biochemical abnormalities. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: In total, 84 obese children, 25 girls and 59 boys with median age and body mass index (BMI) of 12.0 years (interquartile range (IR): 9.5-14.0) and 30.3 kg/m 2 (IR: 27.1-33.4), respectively, referred for medical assessment were studied. All subjects underwent physical examination, anthropometric and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan measurements and real-time ultrasonographic (US) examination of the liver. Fasting blood samples were collected for the measurement of liver function, hepatitis status, levels of serum glucose and insulin and lipid profile. Degree of fatty infiltration of the liver was graded according to ultrasonic appearance of liver echotexture, liver-diaphragm differentiation in echo amplitude, hepatic echo penetration and clarity of hepatic blood vessels. RESULTS: All recruited subjects had no history of alcohol abuse and tests for Hepatitis B or C virus were negative. Thorough examination showed all of them to be in general good health without signs of chronic liver disease. Hepatic steatosis identified by defined ultrasonic appearances was diagnosed in 65 subjects (77%); 17 girls and 48 boys. The severity of fatty liver was positively related to anthropometric measurements including BMI, waist and hip circumference, subscapular skinfold thickness; insulin resistance markers [QUICKI and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)], and hypertriglyceridaemia. Multvariate ordinal regression analysis showed that BMI and raised alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were positively associated with fatty liver. Combination of hepatic steatosis with raised ALT (presumptive NASH) was found in 19 subjects (24%). This group of patients had significantly higher waist hip ratio and conicity index compared to those with isolated hepatic steatosis. Boys with presumed NASH were also found to have significantly higher insulin resistance. CONCLUSION: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was common among our cohort of obese children referred for medical assessment. The prevalence of simple steatosis and presumed NASH was 77 and 24%, respectively. The severity of US steatosis was positively correlated with BMI, raised ALT, insulin resistance and hypertryglyceridaemia. Ultrasonography being noninvasive and readily available could be used for the monitoring of the progression of hepatic steatosis. Further longitudinal studies are required to determine the natural disease progression and the role of insulin resistance and other factors in the pathophysiology of NAFLD.

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“…LS has been recognized by a BLP in 1979 [26]. Some authors consider this pattern as highly correlated with LS [6,7,9,10,12,13], especially if associated with a posterior beam attenuation and/or skip areas [10]. Nevertheless, other authors think that BLP might also indicate liver fibrosis [13,[17][18][19][20].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, the ability of ultrasound to evaluate the presence and degree of LS remains debatable. In fact, although some authors have shown that the bright liver echo pattern (BLP) is strongly correlated with the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], other authors think that this pattern is non-specific because the liver echogenicity on ultrasonography also increases with liver fibrosis [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Recently, the simultaneous presence of BLP, posterior attenuation, and/or areas with different patterns of fat infiltration (so-called skip areas) around gallbladder or near the portal vein [21] have been identified as distinctive signs of steatosis involving a number of hepatocytes in a microscopic field [30 % [11].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The prevalence of bright liver echo pattern in patients with chronic hepatitis C: correlation with steatosis and fibrosis

Loy¹,

Serra

Chessa

2014

J Ultrasound

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Purpose To evaluate the prevalence of bright liver echo pattern (BLP) on ultrasonography and its correlation with liver steatosis (LS), and fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. The usefulness of detecting skip areas for steatosis diagnosis has also been evaluated. Methods The study included 88 patients with chronic hepatitis C (55 men, 33 women, average age 45.7 ± 11.2 years). Ultrasound examination was performed in all patients before liver biopsy. The presence of BLP was assessed and graded from 1 to 3. Hypoechogenic areas (skip areas) around the gallbladder or near the portal vein were also evaluated. Hepatic fibrosis was assessed using the Ishak fibrosis score. Steatosis was graded as follows: 1, 2, 3 (\30, 30-70, [70 % of hepatocytes affected, respectively). Results Fifty-three of the 88 patients (60 %) showed BLP (40 grade 1, 13 grades 2 or 3). Skip areas were found in 14 patients (16 %). Histological steatosis was observed in 40 patients (45 %) and in 10 of them (25 %) was grades 2 and 3 (4 and 6 patients, respectively). As regards fibrosis, 2 patients showed F0, 34 F1, 28 F2, 20 F3, 4 F4, none of them F5 and F6. BLP of grades 2 or 3 and presence of skip areas were strongly correlated with LS (P = 0.00007 and P = 0.00003, respectively). No correlation was found between BLP and fibrosis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and accuracy of BLP for LS were 75, 50, 56, 68 and 61 %, respectively. When BLP of grades 2 and 3 and LS of 30 % or more were correlated, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of BLP were 72, 96, 61, 96 and 90 %, respectively. As regards skip areas the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy for LS were 35, 100, 100, 64 and 70 %, respectively. Conclusions In a well-defined group of patients with chronic hepatitis C, the detection of BLP grades 2 and 3 has a good sensitivity and high specificity for high grades of steatosis. A high specificity but low sensitivity for liver steatosis was also found for skip areas, whereas mild fibrosis does not seem to correlate with the hyperechogenicity of the liver.Keywords Liver steatosis Á Ultrasonography Á Bright liver echo pattern Á Skip areas Á Chronic hepatitis C Riassunto Scopo Scopo del lavoro é stato quello di valutare la prevalenza del ''bright liver echo pattern'' (BLP) all'ultrasonografia e la sua correlazione con la steatosi epatica (SE) e la fibrosi in un gruppo di pazienti con epatite cronica C. E' stata valutata anche l'utilità della determinazione delle cosiddette ''aree di risparmio'' per la diagnosi di steatosi. Metodi Lo studio ha incluso 88 pazienti con epatite cronica C (55 di sesso maschile, 33 di sesso femminile; età media 45.7 ± 11.2 anni). L'esame ultrasonografico é stato eseguito in tutti i pazienti prima di effettuare la biopsia epatica. La presenza di BLP é stata graduata da 1 a 3. É stata anche valutata la presenza o meno di aree ipoecogene (cosiddette ''aree di risparmio''), adiacenti alla colecisti o in sede parailare epatic...

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The accuracy of ultrasound in the detection of fatty infiltration of the liver

Cited by 155 publications

References 1 publication

Clinical and laboratory characteristics associated with dyslipidemia and liver steatosis in chronic HBV carriers

Clinical and laboratory characteristics associated with dyslipidemia and liver steatosis in chronic HBV carriers

Hepatic steatosis in obese Chinese children

The prevalence of bright liver echo pattern in patients with chronic hepatitis C: correlation with steatosis and fibrosis

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