Quantitative US attenuation in normal liver and in patients with diffuse liver disease: importance of fat.
- 1 July 1986
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Radiology
- Vol. 160 (1) , 65-71
- https://doi.org/10.1148/radiology.160.1.3520657
Abstract
Two methods are used to estimate ultrasound attenuation in liver. These were based on amplitude change and frequency change as a result of depth dependent attenuation. Evaluation of the two methods against a family of calibrated phantoms yielded correlation coefficients of 0.98 and 0.99, respectively. Liver attenuation in 26 controls subjects was 0.50 and 0.52 dB/MHz/cm, respectively. Liver attenuation was estimated in 50 patients who later underwent liver biopsy. Comparison with quantitative histologic results showed that the presence of fat alone accounted for the increased attenuation associated with cirrhosis. Similar high attenuation values were found in patients with fatty infiltration. Fibrosis alone did not result in elevated liver attenuation. Cirrhotics without fatty infiltration had attenuation similar to that of the controls. Mechanisms of action are discussed.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Evaluation of backscattering coefficients for excised human tissues: Principles and techniquesUltrasound in Medicine & Biology, 1981