Ultrasound in medicine & biology
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Ultrasound Med Biol · Jul 2010
Intrahepatic transit time predicts liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B: quantitative assessment with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography.
We investigated the use of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) with quantitative measurements to assess the stages of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B. One-hundred twenty-two patients with chronic hepatitis B were divided into three groups according to the Scheuer scoring system pathologically and according to clinical evidence: mild fibrosis (S0 and S1, n = 36); moderate fibrosis (S2 and S3, n = 24); and cirrhosis (S4 and clinically typical cirrhosis, n = 62). CEUS of hepatic vessels and parenchyma was performed using the Cadence contrast pulse sequencing technique, with an intravenous bolus injection of a contrast agent (SonoVue). ⋯ ISI values in the portal vein and liver parenchyma decreased with the severity of fibrosis. This study demonstrated that hepatic CEUS with quantitative measurements of intrahepatic transit time reflected the severity of liver fibrosis. The real-time CEUS imaging with use of software-based quantitative analysis could provide reliable information of hepatic hemodynamic changes to noninvasively assess the severity of liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
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Ultrasound Med Biol · Jul 2010
Evaluation of fetal spine biometry between 11 and 14 weeks of gestation.
This study was designed to establish a fetal spine nomogram for age 11 through 14 weeks of gestation and to document relations among fetal spine length, distance and angle. These parameters were prospectively measured during the first trimester of singleton pregnancies, along with nuchal translucency, over a 3-year period. ⋯ The regression equations among fetal spine parameters and gestational age were as follows: Spine length (mm) = 1.116 x gestational age (days) - 59.169; spine distance (mm) = 1.079 x gestational age (days) - 59.038; head-spine angle = 0.740 x gestational age (days) + 4.735; spine length:spine distance ratio = -0.002 x gestational age (days) + 1.234. Prenatal age-specific reference intervals for fetal spine biometry between 11 and 14 weeks of gestation may assist in evaluation of fetuses investigated for genetic abnormalities that can be expressed by deviation in spine length, distance, or angle.