The pilot study of assessing blood perfusion assessment by contrast-enhanced ultrasound in liver fibrosis patients

Objective: to study the clinical application value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS)in assessing blood perfusion characteristics of liver fibrosis.Methods:15 cases of liver fibrosis proven by biopsy were enrolled in this study while 15 healthy volunteers served as control group.After intravenous bolus injection of SonoVue 2.4 ml,real-time gray scale CEUS was performed to observe hepatic artery arrival time(HAAT),portal vein arrival time(PVAT),hepatic vein arrival time(HVAT)and the peak intensity(PI).In addition,hepatic artery to hepatic vein transit time(HA-HVTT),portal vein hepatic vein transit time(PV-HVTT)and portal vein hepatic artery interval time(PVAT-HAAT,VVT)were calculated.Statistical difference was analysed between two groups.Results:compared with control group,PVAT shortened significantly(P0.05),and HVAT,HA-HVTT,PV-HVTT,VVT shortened significantly(P0.01)in liver fibrosis group.There were no statistical significance in HAAT,HA-PI,PV-PI and HV-PI difference between two groups.Conclusions:The perfusion parameters,such as PVAT,HVAT and PV-HVTT may reflect the change of microcirculation and blood flow dynamics in patient with liver fibrosis,and they are expected to be quantitative index for non-invasive diagnosis of liver fibrosis in future.