Usefulness of noninvasive shear wave elastography for the assessment of hepatic fibrosis in dogs with hepatic disease

Background Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) can noninvasively evaluate hepatic elastic modulus as shear wave velocity (SWV). Additionally, it may predict the presence of clinical relevant hepatic fibrosis (>= F2) in dogs with hepatic disease. Objectives To investigate whether SWV measured by 2D-SWE can differentiate between dogs with (>= F2) and without (F0-1) clinically relevant hepatic fibrosis. Animals Twenty-eight client-owned dogs with hepatic disease and 8 normal healthy Beagle dogs were enrolled. Methods In this cross-sectional prospective study, SWVs were measured using 2D-SWE in all dogs. Hepatic fibrosis stages and necroinflammatory activity grades were histopathologically evaluated using a histological scoring scheme that was adapted from the Ishak schema used in human medicine. Results Median SWVs were significantly higher in dogs with clinically relevant hepatic fibrosis (2.04 m/s; range, 1.81-2.26 m/s) than in healthy dogs (1.51 m/s; range, 1.44-1.66 m/s; P = .007), and dogs without clinically relevant hepatic fibrosis (1.56 m/s; range, 1.37-1.67 m/s; P < .001). However, no significant difference was found in the SWVs between dogs without clinically relevant hepatic fibrosis and healthy dogs (P = .99). Furthermore, median SWVs were not significantly different among dogs with necroinflammatory activity, those without necroinflammatory activity, and healthy dogs (Kruskal-Wallis test, P = .12). Conclusions and Clinical Importance The 2D-SWE may be useful for predicting the presence of hepatic fibrosis in dogs with hepatic disease.