Shear wave elastography of the spleen: evaluation of spleen stiffness in healthy volunteers

Purpose

The aim of this study was to assess the mean value of spleen stiffness measured by Shear wave elastography in healthy patients and its dependence on age, sex, and spleen dimensions, and to evaluate the repeatability of this method.

Methods

The final study group included 59 healthy volunteers without any clinical evidence of liver disease, portal hypertension, hematological disorders, and without any pathological ultrasonographic spleen findings. Each patient underwent abdominal ultrasound examination and elastography of the liver and the spleen.

Results

The mean value of spleen stiffness was 16.6 ± 2.5 kPa. In the group of men (N = 25), it was 17.3 ± 2.7 kPa, and in the group of women (N = 34), it was 16.1 ± 2.2 kPa. The study confirmed no correlation between spleen stiffness and sex, age of patients, and spleen size. Coefficient of repeatability and correlation coefficient between the results of the first and the second measurement showed good but not ideal repeatability of the measurement results.

Conclusion

Our outcomes may be a reference point for evaluating spleen stiffness in research on patients with various illnesses.