The potential role of sonoelastography in the differential diagnosis of ascites

Sonoelastography in the differantial diagnosis of ascites

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the role of  shear wave elastography (SWE) in the differantial diagnosis of ascites.

Materials and Methods: Fifty four patients with abdominal ascites due to different etiologies were included in this study. SWE was performed on the ascitic fluid of patients who were scheduled for paracentesis. Mean shear wave velocity (SWV) values were recorded. According to paracentesis results, patients were divided into two groups: portal hypertension-related (PHR) ascites and nonportal hypertension-related (NPHR) ascites. The relationship between ascites etiology and SWV values was investigated.

Results: Of the 54 patients studied, 34 had PHR ascites and 20 had NPHR ascites. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of mean age and gender. The mean ± SD SWV value of the PHR ascites group was calculated 2.09 ± 0.41 (1.5–2.68), whereas the mean ± SD SWV value of the NPHR ascites was calculated as 3.09 ± 0.63 (2.21–3,48) (P < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that sensitivity and specificity were found as 89% and 75%, respectively, when the cutoff value was selected as 2.32 m/s in the differentiation of the PHR and NPHR ascites.

Conclusion: Sonoelastography was found to be useful in discriminating PHR ascites from NPHR ascites.