Abstract
In the last 10 years the availability of ultrasound elastography allowed to diagnose
and stage liver fibrosis in a non-invasive way and changed the clinical practice of
hepatology. Newer ultrasound-based techniques to evaluate properties of the liver
tissue other than fibrosis are emerging and will lead to a more complete characterization
of the full spectrum of diffuse and focal liver disease. Since these methods are currently
undergoing validation and go beyond elastography for liver tissue evaluation, they
were not included in the recent guidelines regarding elastography issued by the European
Federation of Societies in Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology.
In this review paper, we outline the major advances in the field of ultrasound for
liver applications, with special emphasis on techniques that could soon be part of
the future armamentarium of ultrasound specialists devoted to the assessment of liver
disease. Specifically, we discuss current and future ultrasound assessment of steatosis,
spleen stiffness for portal hypertension, and elastography for the evaluation of focal
liver lesions; we also provide a short glimpse into the next generation of ultrasound
diagnostic methods.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 02, 2017
Accepted:
November 27,
2017
Received in revised form:
November 8,
2017
Received:
August 12,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
