Nowadays, shear wave elastographic techniques have brought a substantial reduction of liver biopsies performed to stage liver fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis. The availability of accurate noninvasive methods for the assessment of liver fibrosis was an important breakthrough and prompted ultrasound federations of societies as well as clinical and radiologic societies to issue international guidelines or consensus statements on the clinical applications of shear wave elastographic techniques. This article reviews the guidelines that have been published as of today.
Keywords: acoustic radiation force impulse techniques; chronic viral hepatitis; diffuse liver disease; guidelines; nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; shear wave elastography.
© 2018 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.