OBJECTIVETo study the value of ultrasound elastography in the evaluation of ethanol-induced lesions of liver.

METHODSAlcohol with a dose of 2 ml was injected into a fresh porcine liver under ultrasound guidance to create stiff necrosis. Then freehand elastography of the lesion from the identical scan plane was obtained with Siemens SONOLINE Antares system using VF10-5 probe at about every 30 seconds till 6 minutes later. The original high-quality radio-frequency data were acquired through an ultrasound research interface provided by the ultrasound system. Corresponding elastograms were then produced offline using cross-corre-lation technique and compared with gross specimen.

RESULTSA hyperechoic area with acoustic shadow below appeared immediately after alcohol injection. The hyperechoic area diffused and its boundary was illegible following injection. On the contrary, the ethanol-induced lesion in elastography appeared as a low strain hard region surrounded by high-strain soft hepatic tissues with clear but irregular boundaries. Sequential elastograms with the lesion boundaries sketched showed that the lesion area grew in the first 3 minutes after ethanol injection and then reached a plateau, which corresponded to the gross specimen.

CONCLUSIONUltrasound elastography can be used to detect and evaluate the diffusion of ethanol-induced hepatic lesion.