Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging for Evaluation of Antiviral treatment Response in Chronic hepatitis C

Authors

  • Nicole Forestier Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Antonia Gaus Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Eva Herrmann Institute of Biostatistics and Math. Modeling, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Christoph Sarrazin Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Joerg Bojunga Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Thierry Poynard Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
  • Joerg Albert Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Ludmila Gerber Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Maximilian-David Schneider Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Georg Dultz Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Stefan Zeuzem Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Mireen Friedrich-Rus Department of Internal Medicine 1, Faculty of Medicine, J.W.Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany

Keywords:

ARFI, liver stiffness, sustained virologic response, non-response, relapse, elastography

Abstract

Background & Aims: Antiviral therapy can stop progression of liver fibrosis and partially reverse it. Non-invasive methods have shown good diagnostic accuracies for the assessment of liver fibrosis. First studies have shown that transient elastography (TE) can be used to monitor fibrosis after antiviral therapy. Acoustic-Radiation-Force-Impulse (ARFI)-Imaging is an elastography method integrated in a conventional ultrasound machine. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate a significant difference of ARFI-values in patients with sustained-virological-response (SVR) as compared to patients without.

Method: Ninety-eight patients infected with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) who had completed antiviral treatment were prospectively included in the study and received ARFI-imaging, TE and laboratory evaluation.

Results: Significantly lower ARFI and TE values were observed for 47 patients with SVR as compared to 51 patients without SVR (1.37m/s vs. 2.00, p=0.0021; 4.9 kPa vs. 11.1 kPa, p<0.001), respectively.

Conclusions: Liver stiffness values and shear wave velocity using ultrasound-based elastography methods are different in patients with SVR as compared to patients without SVR after antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C. However, the causes of this difference (fibrosis regression, cytolysis, baseline fibrosis) remain unclear and require further evaluation in future studies.

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Published

2012-12-01

How to Cite

1.
Forestier N, Gaus A, Herrmann E, Sarrazin C, Bojunga J, Poynard T, Albert J, Gerber L, Schneider M-D, Dultz G, Zeuzem S, Friedrich-Rus M. Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging for Evaluation of Antiviral treatment Response in Chronic hepatitis C. JGLD [Internet]. 2012 Dec. 1 [cited 2025 Jul. 9];21(4):367-73. Available from: https://www.jgld.ro/jgld/index.php/jgld/article/view/2012.4.9

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 4: December 2012

Section

Original Article