Acta Academiae Medicinae Sinica

Abstract: ABSTRACT:Objective To study the value of ultrasound elastography in the evaluation of ethanol-induced lesions of liver. Methods Alcohol with a dose of 2 ml was injected into a fresh porcine liver under ultrasound guidance to create stiff necrosis. Then freehand elastography of the lesion from the identical scan plane was obtained with Siemens SONOLINE Antares system using VF10-5 probe at about every 30 seconds till 6 minutes later. The original high-quality radio-frequency data were acquired through an ultrasound research interface provided by the ultrasound system. Corresponding elastograms were then produced offline using cross-correlation technique and compared with gross specimen. Results A hyperechoic area with acoustic shadow below appeared immediately after alcohol injection. The hyperechoic area diffused and its boundary was illegible following injection. On the contrary, the ethanol-induced lesion in elastography appeared as a low strain hard region surrounded by high-strain soft hepatic tissues with clear but irregular boundaries. Sequential elastograms with the lesion boundaries sketched showed that the lesion area grew in the first 3 minutes after ethanol injection and then reached a plateau, which corresponded to the gross specimen. Conclusion Ultrasound elastography can be used to detect and evaluate the diffusion of ethanol-induced hepatic lesion.

Key words: elastocrapdy, ultrasound, depatic necrotic nodule, etdanol