Clinical Application of Shear Wave Elastography With Shear Wave Dispersion Imaging in the Preoperative Evaluation of Hepatic Parenchyma in Patients With Liver Tumors

Objectives This study aimed to compare the diagnostic accuracy of shear wave elastography (SWE) with that of shear wave dispersion (SWD) in evaluation of hepatic parenchyma in patients with liver tumors before resection. Methods A total of 174 patients with liver tumors were prospectively enrolled. SWE and SWD examinations were performed. Fibrosis stage and necroinflammatory activity were determined histopathologically according to the Scheuer standard. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of SWE and SWD. Results Both SWE and SWD values of the liver were highly correlated with liver fibrosis stage (P < .05, respectively). Both SWE and SWD values of the liver were moderately correlated with necroinflammatory activity (P < .05, respectively). Both SWE and SWD values of the liver were not correlated with steatosis (P > .05, respectively). Both SWE and SWD values were significantly different among the patients with different stages of liver fibrosis (P < .001, respectively). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of SWE value was 0.982, 0.977, 0.969, and 0.984 for predicting S >= 1, S >= 2, S >= 3, and S = 4, respectively. The optimal cutoff SWE values were 6.9, 7.9, 8.7, and 10.6 kPa for S >= 1, S >= 2, S >= 3, and S = 4, respectively. The area under the ROC curve of SWD value was 0.967, 0.960, 0.925, and 0.954 for predicting S >= 1, S >= 2, S >= 3, and S = 4, respectively. The optimal cutoff SWD values were 11.2, 12.0, 13.2, and 16.0 m/s/kHz for S >= 1, S >= 2, S >= 3, and S = 4, respectively. Conclusions SWE and SWD could be noninvasive and accurate for predicting the stage of liver fibrosis in patients with liver tumors before surgery. SWE was more accurate than SWD in predicting severe fibrosis (S >= 3) and cirrhosis (S = 4).