OBJECTIVETo perform a meta-analysis of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) as a diagnostic tool for small hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with cirrhosis.

METHODSA computer-based retrieval system was first used to identify reports on the diagnostic efficacy of CEUS for small HCC in patients with cirrhosis that were published between 1995 and April 2012 in the following literature databases: Medline, PubMed, Foreign Medical Journal Service (FMJS), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Journal Integration Platform (VJIP), Wanfang Chinese Periodical Database, and Chinese Biomedicine Database (CBM). Two investigators, working independently, then selected cases from the relevant based upon specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. The extracted data was subjected to quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS). The MetaDisc version 1.4 software was used to conduct meta-analyses.

RESULTSSix studies, involving 380 lesions detected by various contrast mediums, were selected for analysis. Diagnosis of small HCC in patients with cirrhosis by CEUS based on Sonovue and Levovist had pooled sensitivities of 0.73 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.67-0.79) and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.60-0.89), pooled specificities of 0.89 (95% CI: 0.81-0.94) and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.61-0.91), pooled positive likelihood ratios of 6.53 (95% CI: 2.74-15.52) and 3.60 (95% CI: 1.89-6.85), pooled negative likelihood ratios of 0.26 (95% CI: 0.13-0.54) and 0.21 (95% CI: 0.02-2.63), and pooled diagnostic odds ratios of 27.50 (95% CI: 7.99-94.72) and 25.74 (95% CI: 5.30-125.04), respectively. The area under the curve of the summary receiving operating characteristic (SROC) of CEUS based on Sonovue was 0.9252 and the Q* index was 0.8595.

CONCLUSIONCEUS is a valuable diagnostic tool for small HCC in cirrhotic patients.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Contrast Media ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Liver Neoplasms ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Ultrasonography

Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; Humans ; Liver ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; pathology ; Ultrasonography

According to the increasing need for accurate staging of hepatic fibrosis, the ultrasound (US) elastography techniques have evolved significantly over the past two decades. Currently, US elastography is increasingly used in clinical practice. Previously published studies have demonstrated the excellent diagnostic performance of US elastography for the detection and staging of liver fibrosis. Although US elastography may seem easy to perform and interpret, there are many technical and clinical factors which can affect the results of US elastography. Therefore, clinicians who are involved with US elastography should be aware of these factors. The purpose of this article is to present a brief overview of US techniques with the relevant technology, the clinical indications, diagnostic performance, and technical and biological factors which should be considered in order to avoid misinterpretation of US elastography results.
Disease Progression ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques/instrumentation/*methods ; Fatty Liver/complications/diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Hypertension, Portal/complications ; Liver/*diagnostic imaging/physiopathology ; Liver Cirrhosis/diagnostic imaging/pathology

Nonalcoholic and alcoholic rabbit models of fatty liver were established by feeding on high-fat diet and alcohol, respectively, and fatty liver stiffness at different pathological stages was assessed with real-time shear-wave elastography (SWE), so as to investigate the fibrosis process during the development of fatty liver. The fatty liver stiffness of rabbit in nonalcoholic and alcoholic groups was higher than that in the control group, and that in alcohol group was higher than that in the nonalcoholic group (P<0.01). The elasticity modulus of liver in fatty liver rabbits of nonalcoholic and alcoholic groups showed a positive correlation with progression of liver fibrosis (P<0.01). Real-time SWE, as a noninvasive diagnostic method, can objectively reflect the liver stiffness change and progression of liver fibrosis during the development of fatty liver.
Animals ; Elasticity ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; methods ; Fatty Liver, Alcoholic ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; Male ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Rabbits

In this paper, the Peleg Method is used to calculate the fractal dimension of 5 normal images and 5 schistosomial fibrosis images in order to extract the texture features of B-Scan liver images based on a fractal model. The result indicates that this fractal dimension could be an effective parameter to distinguish the pathologic changes of the disease.
Algorithms ; Fractals ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; methods ; Liver ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Schistosomiasis ; complications ; Ultrasonography ; methods

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) frequently occurs in association with liver cirrhosis, as chronic liver disease is one of the most important factors in carcinogenesis. In addition to HCCs, recent reports of pathologic studies of resected specimens from cirrhotic liver describe associated small nodular lesions such as regenerative nodule, dysplastic nodule (adenomatous hyperplasia), and dysplastic nodule with subfocus of HCC (early HCC). In hepatocarcinogenesis of the cirrhotic liver, a regenerative nodule might be the first step in the development of HCC, going through phases of dysplastic nodule, early HCC and early advanced HCC in a multistep fashion. Fortunately, recent advances in various imaging techniques have facilitated the verification of these nodules. In this review, new nomenclature of small hepatocellular nodules, and detection and characterization of hepatic nodules in carcinogenesis with various imaging techniques are described with focus on the premalignant lesions and early stage of HCC. In addition, the efficacy of various imaging techniques for diagnosing them is discussed. Although the terms and definitions of these nodules are still variable and controversial, familiarity with the concept of these borderline lesions is important.
Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/pathology ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/diagnosis* ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/complications ; Diagnostic Imaging*/methods ; Human ; Liver Cirrhosis/pathology ; Liver Cirrhosis/diagnosis* ; Liver Cirrhosis/complications ; Patient Care Management ; Terminology

OBJECTIVETo study ability of FibroScan (FS) in diagnosing the size of oesophageal varices (OV) in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis.

METHODSA total of 158 patients with HBV-related liver cirrhosis were enrolled in the study. The relation between the presence of OV assessed by endoscopy, and liver stiffness measurement by Fibroscan was studied, and ROC curves were drawn to assess the diagnostic ability of FS value.

RESULTSFor the patients without OV, mild OV, moderate OV, and severe OV, their corresponding FS values were (21.7 +/- 9.9) kPa, (32.1 +/- 13.6) kPa, (42.3 +/- 20.0) kPa and (54.5 +/- 16.2) kPa, respectively. Significant difference was found among the groups (P < 0.001) and also between any two groups (P < 0.05). ROC curve for the diagnosis of with vs. without OV, moderate OV, and < severe vs. severe OV were 0.798 (95% CI: 73.1%-86.5%), 0.823 (95% CI: 74.5%-90.0%) and 0.879 (95% CI: 80.8%-95.0%), respectively, with corresponding FS cut-off value of 23.3 kPa, 31.5 kPa and 34.6 kPa.

CONCLUSIONLiver stiffness measurement allows to predict the sizes of oesophageal varices in patients with HBV-related cirrhosis.

Adult ; Elasticity Imaging Techniques ; methods ; Esophageal and Gastric Varices ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Liver ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVETo investigate the natural history and clinical outcomes in a cohort of transfusion-related hepatitis C in northern areas of China. Methods The authors studied 283 patients (137 males, 146 females, mean age 45.79+/-9.92 age) who became infected with HCV while donating plasma 12.25 years ago. These cases were subjected to ultrasonography and liver biochemical tests and serologic anti-HCV assays. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software.

RESULTSUltrasonographic findings suggestive of liver cirrhosis were 8.3% of cases. No decompensated cirrhosis or HCC was detected. The value of ALT was higher in severe chronic hepatitis (mean 62.07+/-50.87 IU/L) and cirrhosis (mean 115.50+/-108.41 IU/L) patients than in the other groups (mean 32.30+/-29.10 IU/L). The abnormal rate of ALT was 53.3% in severe group, 100% in cirrhosis group.

CONCLUSIONThe natural history of transfusion-related hepatitis C in the areas seemed to be relatively mild when compared with previous data. Our cases showed relatively low rate of positive findings in ultrasonography. None of this cohort had the decompensated cirrhosis or HCC. The factor of sex but not the age at time of infection was found being related to the outcomes. In the absence of liver biopsy, ultrasonography was a suitable and sensitive method for the diagnosis of the progressive hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; transmission ; Humans ; Liver ; diagnostic imaging ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Transfusion Reaction ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVEIt is important to use noninvasive methods to differentiate liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the validity of ultrasonography (US) in evaluating the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic viral hepatitis in reference to the pathologic diagnosis of their liver biopsy specimens.

METHODSThe liver fibrosis status of 324 chronic viral hepatitis patients was evaluated by both needle biopsy and US. Histologically their liver fibrosis was graded as S0-S4, and the inflammatory reaction in the liver was graded as G1-G4. The US examination included qualitative description of the liver surface and liver parenchyma, and the quantitative parameters were vascular diameters, blood flow volume and spleen size.

RESULTSUS qualitative description of the liver surface and liver parenchyma was correlated to the severity of fibrosis and the degree of the inflammation seen in the liver biopsies. An analysis of US quantitative parameters showed that a cut-off value of 12.1 cm for the length of spleen had a sensitivity of 60.0%, and specificity of 75.3% in detecting early liver fibrosis. For other quantitative parameters, the cut-off values were 8mm for the diameter of the splenic vein, 30.5 cm/sec for maximal blood flow velocity in the portal vein and 12 mm in diameter of the main portal vein. The diagnostic sensitivities for these parameters were 60.0%, 78.6% and 76.7%; the diagnostic specificities were 78.1%, 66.9% and 44.6% respectively.

CONCLUSIONEarly cirrhosis can be detected by US, and the sonographic results were well paralleled with their pathologic diagnoses made by liver biopsies. Individual US parameter has limited sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing early cirrhosis. In clinical practice a combination of 2-3 parameters could be used to detect or exclude severe liver fibrosis.

Adult ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; diagnostic imaging ; virology ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation between the stage of hepatic fibrosis and ultrasonographic findings of the liver, spleen and gallbladder and establish a sensitive ultrasonographic semi-quantitative scoring system for screening compensated liver cirrhosis.

METHODSTotalling 248 patients with chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infection underwent liver biopsy and ultrasonic examination. The images of the liver surface, parenchymal echo, intrahepatic vessels, gallbladder, spleen and diameter of portal vein were analyzed.

RESULTSThe stages of hepatic fibrosis were not correlated to ultrasonographic findings of the liver surface or diameter of portal vein, but hepatic fibrosis of different stages showed significant differences in parenchymal echo, intrahepatic vessels, gallbladder and splenomegaly. In cases with normal liver parenchymal, intrahepatic vessels, gallbladder and spleen, the negative predictive value of the ultrasonographic semi-quantitative scoring system for diagnosing compensated liver cirrhosis amounted to 96.3%. The sensitivity of a score not lower than 5 was 90% for detecting compensated cirrhosis. With a score not lower than 7, the diagnostic accuracy and specificity was 85.9% and 95.2%, respectively, but the sensitivity was lowered to 37.5%.

CONCLUSIONThe ultrasonic images of the liver parenchyma, intrahepatic vessels, gallbladder and spleen in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis vary significantly in patients with hepatic fibrosis of different stages, and this ultrasonographic scoring system allows for a sensitive diagnosis of compensated cirrhosis.

Female ; Fibrosis ; Gallbladder ; diagnostic imaging ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; Hepatitis C ; complications ; Humans ; Liver ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; virology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; diagnosis ; Male ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Spleen ; diagnostic imaging ; Splenomegaly ; diagnostic imaging ; Ultrasonography ; methods