Hepatic Fibrosis: Prospective Comparison of MR Elastography and US Shear-Wave Elastography for Evaluation

Purpose: To compare magnetic resonance (MR) elastography and ultrasonographic shear-wave elastography (SWE) for the staging of hepatic fibrosis (HF) in the same individuals. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from all patients. The technical success of and reliable liver stiffness (LS) measurement rates at MR elastography and SWE were compared in 129 patients who underwent both examinations. For mutual validation, LS values measured at both examinations were correlated by using Pearson correlation. The diagnostic performance of the two techniques for the assessment of substantial HF (stage >= F2) was compared by using nonparametric receiver operating characteristic analysis. Results: The technical success rates of MR elastography and SWE were 95.35% (123 of 129) and 97.67% (126 of 129), respectively (P = .51). MR elastography provided significantly more reliable LS measurements than did SWE (95.35% [123 of 129] vs 75.2% [97 of 129], P < .001). The two examinations showed moderate correlation (r = 0.724). In patients with HF stages of F3 or lower, the two examinations showed moderate-to-strong correlation (r = 0.683 in normal livers, 0.754 in livers with stage F0 or F1 HF, and 0.90 in livers with stage F2 or F3 HF; P < .001); however, they did not show significant correlation for stage F4 HF (r = 0.30, P = .31). MR elastography and SWE showed similar diagnostic capability in depicting HF of stage F2 or greater (P = .98) when LS measurements were reliably performed. Conclusion: MR elastography and SWE showed moderate correlation and similar diagnostic performance in the diagnosis of HF of stage F2 or greater; however, MR elastography yielded more reliable LS measurements than did SWE. (C) RSNA, 2014.