Pocket-Sized Versus Conventional Ultrasound for Detecting Fatty Infiltration of the Liver

Background and Aims The high prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the general population warrants determining whether pocket-sized ultrasound devices (PoCUS) might serve as point-of-care screening for NAFLD in busy office practices. Methods One hundred adult subjects undergoing...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Digestive diseases and sciences 2020, Vol.65 (1), p.82-85
Main Authors: Miles, D. A., Levi, C. S., Uhanova, J., Cuvelier, S., Hawkins, K., Minuk, G. Y.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdomen
Biochemistry
Brief Report
Funding
Gastroenterology
Hepatology
Hospitals
Intensive care
Liver diseases
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Oncology
Studies
Transplant Surgery
Ultrasonic imaging
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Summary:Background and Aims The high prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the general population warrants determining whether pocket-sized ultrasound devices (PoCUS) might serve as point-of-care screening for NAFLD in busy office practices. Methods One hundred adult subjects undergoing conventional abdominal ultrasound (US) examinations for various indications were screened by PoCUS immediately prior to the conventional US procedure. The PoCUS examination only assessed the presence or absence of excess fat. Assessment of other liver pathology was not performed. Investigators (conventional US: an experienced radiologist and PoCUS: a general internist recently trained in the use of PoCUS) were blinded to the results of the alternative imaging. Results Forty patients (40%) had fatty infiltration of the liver on both conventional US and PoCUS, and 49 (49%) were negative by both modalities. A consensus was reached in two of the 11 remaining subjects with initially discrepant results. The overall sensitivity and specificity of PoCUS relative to conventional US were 91% and 88%, respectively. Conclusions These findings support the use of PoCUS by a trained physician for point-of-care screening of patients at risk for NAFLD.
ISSN:0163-2116
1573-2568
DOI:10.1007/s10620-019-05752-x