In chronic viral hepatitis the stage of liver fibrosis influences patient’s prognosis and survival. The recent availability of interferon-free regimens has allowed the eradication of hepatitis C virus in up to 90% of cases. In this clinical scenario, noninvasive methods for staging liver fibrosis, such as liver fibrosis biomarkers or ultrasound (US) elastography techniques, have been widely accepted also by clinical guidelines [1]. There are three methods for non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis based on shear waves: vibration controlled transient elastography (VCTE), point shear wave...

Study design From September 7th to October 9th 2015, consecutive individuals referred to the ultrasound unit of the infectious diseases dept. of our institution for liver stiffness assessment with the FibroScan device, who voluntarily accepted to undergo also 2D-SWE measurement with the Aplio 500 system, were prospectively enrolled. Subject’s characteristics were recorded. The operator (G.F.) performing the liver stiffness measurements (LSMs) with the US system was blinded to the LSMs obtained with the FibroScan device by two independent operators (L.M. and R.L.). The two machines...

Sixty-one patients [44 males; 17 females; mean age, 55.7 (12.6) years] were enrolled. Thirty-nine patients were affected by chronic hepatitis C, 10 patients were HIV positive, two patients were HCV/HIV co-infected, one patient had liver cirrhosis of unknown etiology, and the remaining 9 patients received LSMs for other etiologies of liver disease. Failures occurred in seven cases with the 2D-SWE and in one case with both 2D-SWE and VCTE. The failures with the 2D-SWE were due to the inability of the patient to hold the...

These preliminary results show that the propagation map of the latest software for 2D shear wave elastography implemented in the Aplio 500 system is a useful tool for the assessment of liver stiffness becauseit helps in choosing the area of liver parenchyma where measurements are likely more reliable.

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