Diagnostic accuracy of hepatic vein arrival time performed with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for HCV liver cirrhosis

Background and study aims: Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) has increased considerably the use of ultrasound for hemodynamical analyses and quantification. Bolus injection of microbubble agents is used to evaluate transit times. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy of arrival time (seconds) to the hepatic artery (HAAT), hepatic vein (HVAT), and portal vein (PVAT), based on CEUS used for the diagnosis of cirrhosis, and to correlate these arrival times with the liver stiffness and disease severity. Patients and methods: This study evaluated 29 HCV cirrhotic and 19 chronic hepatitis C patients. History, clinical examination, laboratory investigations, abdominal ultrasonography, point shear-wave elastography (pSWE), and CEUS were conducted. Results: The mean liver stiffness increased significantly in cirrhotic versus chronic HCV (22.7 versus 5.1; p-value < 0.001). The mean HAAT (p-value = 0.001), PVAT (p-value = 0.002), and HVAT values (p-value: 0.001) were significantly prolonged in cirrhotic compared with chronic HCV. The HVAT cut-off point of cirrhotic patients was 18 s with a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 96.6%, 63.2%, and 83.3%, respectively (area under curve: 0.801). Significant positive correlation was found between liver stiffness (kPa) and HVAT (s) (r = 0.585; p-value = 0.005). No significant correlation was detected between HVAT (s) and the severity of liver disease, as assessed by the Child or MELD scores in cirrhotic patients. Conclusion: Measuring HVAT by CEUS yielded high-accuracy and correlation outcomes for cirrhosis detection. It could be a valuable noninvasive method for the diagnosis of cirrhosis.