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Aim of the study To assess the effect of water intake on ultrasound tissue characteristics and hemodynamics of adult livers. Material and methods In February 2020, we prospectively performed ultrasound shear wave elastography and attenuation imaging (ATI) of the liver parenchyma, and spectral Doppler sonography of the portal vein and hepatic artery in 19 adult healthy volunteers (10 men and 9 women, mean age 27 years, mean body mass index 24.65 kg/m2). We measured liver shear wave velocity (SWV, m/s), shear wave dispersion (SWD, m/s/kHz), attenuation coefficient (dB/cm/MHz), main portal vein velocity (PVV, cm/s), hepatic artery peak systolic velocity (PSV, cm/s), and end diastolic velocity (EDV, cm/s) immediately before and at different time points (15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes) after water intake (1.0 l water and 1.5 l water for body weight < 150 lbs. and ≥ 150 lbs., respectively). Results The differences in SWV, PVV, hepatic artery PSV and EDV before and after water intake were significant (p < 0.01) whereas the differences in SWD and ATI were not (p > 0.05) based on repeated measures ANOVA tests. The values of SWV, PVV, PSV, and EDV reached a peak at 30-45 minutes and returned to baseline 60 minutes after water intake. We observed positive correlations of SWV with PVV, PSV, and EDV in linear regression analyses (r2 > 0.73). Conclusions Water intake affects the liver stiffness and hemodynamics. No water intake at least one hour prior to liver ultrasound elastography and Doppler sonography is recommended.

The aim of the study was to compare Superb Microvascular Imaging (SMI) to conventional color Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) and power Doppler ultrasonography (PDUS) in depicting kidney cortical microvasculature.Using 3.5 MHz curve-linear array ultrasound transducer and manufacturer recommended color Doppler settings (Canon Medical Systems) for KIDNEY sonography, we performed kidney CDUS, PDUS, and SMI in 20 healthy adults (10 man and 10 women, mean age 27 years). Color Doppler signals in all color Doppler images were quantified by counting color pixel intensity, calculating area ratio of color to total region of interest (AR), and measuring distance of cortical end vessel to the kidney capsule. We used one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post-hoc to test the difference in color pixel intensity, AR, and distance of cortical end vessel to the kidney capsule among SMI, CDUS, and PDUS and in all paired groups.The differences in color pixel intensity, AR, and distance of cortical end vessel to the kidney capsule were significant among CDUS, PDUS, and SMI, as well as in all paired groups (P 0.001). Color pixel intensity and AR in SMI were significantly higher than CDUS and PDUS (p 0.001). The distance of cortical end vessel to the kidney capsule in SMI was significantly less than in CDUS and PDUS (p 0.001). Inter- and intra-observer reliability of quantifying color Doppler images was good (Intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.79-0.92).Our results suggest that SMI seems more sensitive than CDUS and PDUS in depicting kidney cortical microvasculature.