Impact of elastography as a diagnostic tool for liver diseases
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63688/fxg9nz67Keywords:
elastography, liver fibrosis, liver diseasesAbstract
Introduction: Liver diseases represent a major health problem and require diagnostic methods capable of identifying fibrosis and disease progression noninvasively. Elastography enables the assessment of liver stiffness using different ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging techniques.
Objective: To synthesize the available scientific evidence on the impact of elastography as a diagnostic tool for liver diseases, highlighting its main applications, benefits, and clinical utility.
Methodology: A descriptive, qualitative narrative literature review was conducted on scientific publications addressing the use of elastography in liver diseases. PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and SciELO were searched for studies published between 2021 and 2026 in English and Spanish. The information was analyzedusing a narrative synthesis approach. A total of 156 records were identified, 29 duplicates were removed, and 117 publications were excluded for not meeting the selection criteria. Finally, 10 articles were included in the narrative synthesis.
Results: The studies demonstrated the usefulness of transient elastography, point shear wave elastography (pSWE), two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2D-SWE), and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) for detecting and staging fibrosis, cirrhosis, and steatotic liver disease. Furthermore, liver stiffness was associated with disease severity parameters and the risk of decompensation.
Conclusions: Elastography is a noninvasive diagnostic tool that is useful for the assessment and monitoring of various liver diseases.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Anny Lilibeth Pinargote Santillán, Félix Eduardo Alvarado Valdivieso, Angie Mishelle Guerrón Molina, Allyson Madeline Barrera Vásquez, Jorge Luis Guzmán León (Autor/a)
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