Liver fibrosis assessment: MR and US elastography

• Published in: Abdominal imaging Vol. 47; no. 9; pp. 3037 - 3050
• Main Authors: Ozturk, Arinc, Olson, Michael C., Samir, Anthony E., Venkatesh, Sudhakar K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomarkers; Cirrhosis; Elasticity Imaging Techniques - methods; Fatty liver; Fibrosis; Gastroenterology; Hepatology; Humans; Imaging; Imaging techniques; Liver; Liver - diagnostic imaging; Liver - pathology; Liver cirrhosis; Liver Cirrhosis - diagnostic imaging; Liver Cirrhosis - pathology; Liver diseases; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Mechanical properties; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Modulus of elasticity; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease - pathology; Radiology; Scars; Shear modulus; Special Section: Quantitative Imaging; Steatosis; Stiffness; Therapeutic applications; Ultrasonic imaging; Ultrasonic methods; Ultrasonic testing; Ultrasound; United States > US; Shear stiffness; Fibrosis staging; Liver stiffness; Chronic liver disease; Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
• DOI: 10.1007/s00261-021-03269-4
• ISSN: 2366-004X; 2366-0058

Elastography has emerged as a preferred non-invasive imaging technique for the clinical assessment of liver fibrosis. Elastography methods provide liver stiffness measurement (LSM) as a surrogate quantitative biomarker for fibrosis burden in chronic liver disease (CLD). Elastography can be performed either with ultrasound or MRI. Currently available ultrasound-based methods include strain elastography, two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE), point shear wave elastography (pSWE), and vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE). MR Elastography (MRE) is widely available as two-dimensional gradient echo MRE (2D-GRE-MRE) technique. US-based methods provide estimated Young’s modulus (eYM) and MRE provides magnitude of the complex shear modulus. MRE and ultrasound methods have proven to be accurate methods for detection of advanced liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. Other clinical applications of elastography include liver decompensation prediction, and differentiation of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) from simple steatosis (SS). In this review, we briefly describe the different elastography methods, discuss current clinical applications, and provide an overview of advances in the field of liver elastography.