Noninvasive Diagnosis of Portal Hypertension in Patients With Compensated Advanced Chronic Liver Disease

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to explore the prevalence of portal hypertension in the most common etiologies of patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) and develop classification rules, based on liver stiffness measurement (LSM), that could be readily used to diagnose or exclude clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH) in clinical practice. METHODS: This is an international cohort study including patients with paired LSM/hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG), LSM ≥10 kPa, and no previous decompensation. Portal hypertension was defined by an HVPG >5 mm Hg. A positive predictive value ≥90% was considered to validate LSM cutoffs for CSPH (HVPG ≥10 mm Hg), whereas a negative predictive value ≥90% ruled out CSPH. RESULTS: A total of 836 patients with hepatitis C (n = 358), nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH, n = 248), alcohol use (n = 203), and hepatitis B (n = 27) were evaluated. Portal hypertension prevalence was >90% in all cACLD etiologies, except for patients with NASH (60.9%), being even lower in obese patients with NASH (53.3%); these lower prevalences of portal hypertension in patients with NASH were maintained across different strata of LSM values. LSM ≥25 kPa was the best cutoff to rule in CSPH in alcoholic liver disease, chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C, and nonobese patients with NASH, whereas in obese NASH patients, the positive predictive value was only 62.8%. A new model for patients with NASH (ANTICIPATE-NASH model) to predict CSPH considering body mass index, LSM, and platelet count was developed, and a nomogram was constructed. LSM ≤15 kPa plus platelets ≥150 × 10/L ruled out CSPH in most etiologies. DISCUSSION: Patients with cACLD of NASH etiology, especially obese patients with NASH, present lower prevalences of portal hypertension compared with other cACLD etiologies. LSM ≥25 kPa is sufficient to rule in CSPH in most etiologies, including nonobese patients with NASH, but not in obese patients with NASH

Reliabilitätskriterien für die Messung der Lebersteifigkeit mittels Echtzeit-2D-Shearwave-Elastografie bei verschiedenen klinischen Szenarien der chronischen Lebererkrankung

Purpose: Liver stiffness measurement by real-time 2-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) lacks universal reliability criteria. We sought to assess whether previously published 2D-SWE reliability criteria for portal hypertension were applicable for the evaluation of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, and to look for criteria that minimize the risk of misclassification in this setting. Materials and Methods: In a biopsy-controlled diagnostic study, we obtained five 2D-SWE measurements of optimal image quality. Correctly classified cases of fibrosis and cirrhosis were compared to misclassified cases. We compared reliability predictors (standard deviation (SD), SD/mean, size of region of interest (ROI) and difference between a single measurement and the patient's median) with those obtained in a prior study on clinically significant portal hypertension. Results: We obtained 678 2D-SWE measurements from 142 patients. Overall, the variability in liver stiffness within single 2D-SWE measurements was low (SD = 1.1 ± 1.5kPa; SD/mean = 12 ± 9 %). Intra-observer analysis showed almost perfect concordance (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.95; 95 % CI 0.94 - 0.96; average difference from median = 0.4 ± 0.9kPa). For the diagnosis of cirrhosis, a smaller SD (optimally ≤ 1.75 kPa) and larger ROI size (optimally ≥ 18 mm) were associated with higher accuracy. Similarly, within the published cohort of patients assessed for portal hypertension, a low variability of measurements was associated with high reliability. Conclusion: A high quality 2D-SWE elastogram ensures low variability and high reliability, regardless of indication. We recommend aiming for a combination of low standard deviation and large ROI

Non-invasive measurement of HVPG using graph analysis based on dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound with ESAOTE MyLab: The CLEVER Study.

Background and aims: Non-invasive methods accurately estimating hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) are un unmet clinical need. Preliminary data suggested that graph analysis of dynamic contrast enhanced ultrasonography (DCE-US) of the liver using a “connectome” approach allows assessment of the liver microcirculatory derangement and mirrors the severity of portal hypertension (Amat-Roldan et al. Radiology 2015). The EC-funded prospective CLEVER study (FP7-IAPP-GA-2013-612273-CLEVER) is aimed at developing a novel automatized software based on DCE-US able to improve prognostication in cirrhosis. First extended results were developed with a Siemens Acuson Sequoia in Barcelona, showing optimal correlation with HVPG. Here we report the adaptation of this CLEVER software to DCE-US videos acquired with ESAOTE MyLab equipments in Bologna to predict HVPG in a population of patients with F≥3 hepatopathy. Method: Ten seconds long videoclip(s) of the right liver lobe were recorded in each patient producing one cycle of microbubble disruption and reperfusion during SonoVue infusion. A total of 90 videos from randomly selected 47 patients were utilized to optimize the autoselection algorithm of the computer among 5models based on platelet count and spleen diameter. Results: Applicability: the CLEVER software was technically able to provide portal pressure estimations from DCE-US in 41/90 videos corresponding to 28/47 patients (59.6%). The Spearman coefficient of correlation between CLEVER values and HVPG was r = 0.585 ( p < 0.001). The CLEVER software was then tested in a separate validation set of 17 technically successful patients, showing a correlation r = 0.701 ( p < 0.002). Conclusion: We developed and validated the DCE-US based CLEVER software which allows an automatic and quantitative non-invasive estimation of portal pressure in patients with CLD. Larger set of patients with precise subgrouping will help improving the non-invasive predictability of portal pressure by DCE-US

Az in vitro androgenezis indukciója búzában (Triticum aestivum L.), tritikáléban (X Triticosecale Wittmack), fűszerpaprikában (Capsicum annuum L.) és az eredmények felhasználása a nemesítésben

We present here the first update of the 2013 EFSUMB (European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology) Guidelines and Recommendations on the clinical use of elastography, focused on the assessment of diffuse liver disease. The first part (long version) of these Guidelines and Recommendations deals with the basic principles of elastography and provides an update of how the technology has changed. The practical advantages and disadvantages associated with each of the techniques are described, and guidance is provided regarding optimization of scanning technique, image display, image interpretation, reporting of data and some of the known image artefacts. The second part provides clinical information about the practical use of elastography equipment and the interpretation of results in the assessment of diffuse liver disease and analyzes the main findings based on published studies, stressing the evidence from meta-analyses. The role of elastography in different etiologies of liver disease and in several clinical scenarios is also discussed. All of the recommendations are judged with regard to their evidence-based strength according to the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence. This updated document is intended to act as a reference and to provide a practical guide for both beginners and advanced clinical users