Superb Microvascular Imaging-Based Vascular Index to Assess Adult Hepatic Steatosis: A Feasibility Study

Jing Gao, Jacob King, Manjil Chatterji, Brien R. Miller, Roger L. Siddoway

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The aim of the study was to assess the feasibility of using a superb microvascular imaging-based vascular index (SMI-VI) for evaluating adult hepatic steatosis. We prospectively compared liver parenchyma SMI-VI (color pixels/total pixels in the region of interest), portal vein velocity, hepatic artery Doppler parameters (peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity, resistive index) and serum lipid and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels between 16 normal livers and 34 steatotic livers using magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) as the reference. On the basis of a two-tailed t-test, differences in SMI-VI, portal vein velocity, MRI-PDFF and ALT between normal (MRI-PDFF <5%) and steatotic (MRI-PDFF ≥5%) livers were statistically significant (p < 0.02), whereas hepatic artery Doppler parameters and triglyceride levels were not (p > 0.05). We observed an inverse correlation of SMI-VI with MRI-PDFF (r = –0.88). With 0.19 as the best cutoff value, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, sensitivity and specificity of SMI-VI for determining ≥mild (MRI-PDFF ≥5%) non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were 0.95, 96% and 94%, respectively. Our results indicate the feasibility of using SMI-VI to assess adult hepatic steatosis. SMI-VI is a potential surrogate marker in the screening for NAFLD.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)480-487
Number of pages8
JournalUltrasound in Medicine and Biology
Volume48
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Doppler
  • Hepatic steatosis
  • Magnetic resonance imaging-proton density fat fraction, vascular index
  • Superb microvascular imaging
  • Ultrasound

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