ASSESSING THE ROLE OF ACOUSTIC RADIATION FORCE IMPULSE IMAGING TO PREDICT THE STAGING OF LIVER FIBROSIS IN PATIENTS WITH NONALCOHOLIC STEATOHEPATITIS

Background/Objectives: Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) is a novel non-invasive technology for the assessment of stages of liver fibrosis in chronic hepatic disease. Some studies previously reported that ARFI is a promising method for assessing liver fibrosis in patients with NAFLD/NASH. This study aimed to validate the diagnostic usefulness of ARFI for prediction of staging of liver fibrosis in patients with NASH. Patients and Methods: The study was carried out on 51 patients with NASH. All of patients underwent a liver biopsy for histological assessment of liver fibrosis and ARFI elastography. Cut-off values were determined using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: Histological liver fibrosis was evaluated by Metavir scoring; F0: 8 cases, F1: 29 cases, F2: 10 cases and F3: 4 cases. ARFI quantification correlated significantly with the fibrosis stage (Spearman rho: 0.44, p