A Novel FibroScan Examination Dedicated to Spleen Stiffness Measurement

Publication date: Available online 3 May 2018
Source:Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology
Author(s): Cécile Bastard, Véronique Miette, Paul Calès, Horia Stefanescu, Davide Festi, Laurent Sandrin
Esophageal varices (EVs) are among the most severe complications of cirrhosis, with a prevalence of 50% to 60% among cirrhotic patients. International guidelines therefore recommend that cirrhotic patients should be screened for the presence of EVs. The main objective of this study was to introduce a new spleen-dedicated FibroScan (Echosens, Paris, France) examination and to assess its performance in detecting large EVs (grade 2 and 3). This novel examination has been validated in simulation and phantom studies and has been used in a population of patients with chronic liver disease. The study described here suggests that the novel spleen-dedicated FibroScan examination performs better than the standard FibroScan for the detection of large EVs (area under the curve = 0.70 for the standard examination and 0.79 [p < 0.01] for the spleen examination), but further clinical studies are needed to investigate the role of spleen stiffness in the management of cirrhotic patients.



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