Linking elastographic evaluation benign and malignant liver lesion with histopathological data

TL;DR

ARFI elastography is a reliable non-invasive method to distinguish between benign and malignant liver lesions based on tissue stiffness measurements.

Contribution

This study demonstrates that ARFI elastography has high diagnostic accuracy for differentiating liver lesions compared to histopathology.

Findings

Malignant liver lesions had significantly higher shear wave velocity (SWV) values than benign lesions.

A cutoff SWV of 1.96 m/s achieved excellent sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy in differentiating lesions.

Abstract

Differentiating benign from malignant focal liver lesions remains a significant diagnostic challenge with conventional imaging
modalities. Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) elastography offers a non-invasive approach by quantitatively measuring tissue
stiffness through shear wave velocity (SWV). ARFI elastography findings were compared with histopathology to assess diagnostic accuracy
among 124 patients with focal liver lesions. Malignant lesions demonstrated significantly higher SWV values than benign lesions and a
cutoff of 1.96 m/s achieved excellent sensitivity, specificity and overall accuracy. ARFI elastography is a highly reliable and superior
adjunct to conventional ultrasound for non-invasive differentiation of benign and malignant liver lesions.