Objective: This study aims to assess the value of ultrasound real-time shear wave elastography (US-SWE) for evaluation of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in a rabbit model compared with multislice computed tomography (MSCT).
Material and methods: Twenty-six rabbits were fed with high-fat, high-cholesterol diet and six rabbits were fed with a standard diet. All rabbits were performed with MSCT and US-SWE at various time points to measure changes in liver parenchyma. The diagnostic efficiency of US-SWE was analyzed using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves compared with MSCT based on the liver pathology.
Results: The statistically significant differences in the areas under the ROC curves between using MSCT and US-SWE modalities were detected to discriminate between normal vs. NAFLD or higher severity pathology. Similarly, for normal or NAFLD vs. borderline or NASH livers, statistically significant differences between using US-SWE and MSCT modalities were also detected for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) vs. lower severity pathology.
Conclusions: MSCT, but not US-SWE, had a better ability to differentiate normal or NAFLD livers from higher severity NAFLD livers. However, the diagnostic efficiency of US-SWE was superior to that of MSCT for differentiating NASH from normal or lower severity NAFLD.
Keywords: Shear wave elastography; diagnostic efficiency; multislice computed tomography; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.