Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (ElastQ) accurately rules out liver fibrosis and rules in advanced chronic liver disease across liver disease etiologies: a prospective multicenter study

David J. M. Bauer, Annalisa De SilvestriI, Ruxandra Mare, Laura Maiocchi, Ambra Raimondi, Georg Semmler, Mattias Mandorfer, Ioan Sporea, Giovanna Ferraioli, Thomas Reiberger

This study evaluated ElastQ, a two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) technique, for the non-invasive assessment of liver fibrosis risk using liver stiffness measurement (LSM). The aim was to determine its diagnostic accuracy and establish LSM cutoffs for clinical risk stratification. A prospective multicenter study was conducted, employing vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) as a reference standard. The statistical analysis utilized Pearson correlations and Lin concordance correlation coefficients, diagnostic areas under the curve (AUCs), and 90%-specific rule-in and 90%-sensitive rule-out ElastQ cutoffs. The study included 875 patients at risk for liver disease, of whom 816 (376 women, 46.1%; median age, 57.0 years [interquartile range, 19.0]) had successful and reliable VCTE- and ElastQ-LSMs. The median LSM was 13.0 kPa (range, 2.0 to 75.0 kPa) for VCTE and 6.6 kPa (range, 2.9 to 26.5 kPa) for ElastQ. The correlation between VCTE-LSM and ElastQ-LSM was adequate for VCTE-LSM <15 kPa (Pearson r=0.63) but lower for VCTE-LSM ≥15.0 kPa (Pearson r=0.27). VCTE-LSM indicated no fibrosis risk (<5.0 kPa) in 178 cases (21.8%), gray zone (5.0-9.9 kPa) in 347 cases (42.5%), and advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD; ≥10.0 kPa) in 291 cases (35.7%). The diagnostic AUC for ElastQ-LSM was 0.82 for fibrosis risk and 0.90 for ACLD. The clinically relevant ElastQ cutoffs for ruling out fibrosis risk and ruling in compensated ACLD (cACLD) were <5.0 kPa and ≥9.0 kPa, respectively. ElastQ 2D-SWE enables accurate, non-invasive assessments of liver fibrosis and cACLD risk. In clinical practice, ElastQ-LSM <5.0 kPa rules out fibrosis, while ElastQ-LSM ≥9.0 kPa rules in cACLD.