J Korean Soc Ultrasound Med.  2007 Jun;26(2):69-75.

Can the Splenic Artery Resistive Index Be an Ancillary Sign on Ultrasound for the Differentiation of Alcoholic Cirrhosis from Hepatitis B-virus Related Cirrhosis?

• Byun JN
• Kim DH

Abstract

PURPOSE: We wanted to assess the usefulness of the splenic artery resistive index (RIS) for differentiating between alcoholic cirrhosis (AC) and hepatitis B-virus related cirrhosis (VC).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 109 subjects (28 normal healthy controls, 38 patients with VC and 43 patients with AC) were included in this study. The spleen sizes, Child-Pugh scores and RISs were compared between the two cirrhotic groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine an RIS cutoff value for the differentiation of the two cirrhotic groups.
RESULTS
The mean spleen size and mean RIS in the controls were less than those of the two cirrhotic groups (p < 0.05), and the mean spleen sizes and Child-Pugh scores were not different between the two groups (AC vs. VC), (13.1 +/- 3.2 cm vs. 12.9 +/- 2.6 cm, p > 0.05; 6.6 +/- 1.9 vs. 5.9 +/- 1.6, p > 0.05, respectively). In contrast, the mean RIS of the AC patients was significantly higher than that of the VC patients (0.72 +/- 0.07 vs. 0.62 +/- 0.06, respectively, p < 0.01). The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy at an RIS cut-off value of 0.7 for differentiating the two cirrhotic groups were 76.7%, 68.4% and 72.8, respectively.
CONCLUSION
The RIS is useful factor for differentiating the patients with AC from the patients with VC.

Keyword

Liver cirrhosis; Splenic artery; Doppler ultrasound; Resistive index

MeSH Terms

Alcoholics*
Fibrosis*
Hepatitis*
Humans
Liver Cirrhosis
Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic*
ROC Curve
Sensitivity and Specificity
Spleen
Splenic Artery*
Ultrasonography*