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World J Gastroenterol. Apr 21, 2018; 24(15): 1583-1590
Published online Apr 21, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i15.1583
Ultrasound findings in autoimmune hepatitis
Yi Dong, Andrej Potthoff, Christoph Klinger, Ana Paula Barreiros, Dariusz Pietrawski, Christoph F Dietrich
Yi Dong, Department of Ultrasound, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Andrej Potthoff, Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Hannover D-30625, Germany
Christoph Klinger, Department of Internal Medicine 1, Klinikum Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg D-71634, Germany
Ana Paula Barreiros, German Organ Transplantation Foundation, Region Mitte, Mainz D-55131, Germany
Dariusz Pietrawski, Christoph F Dietrich, Department of Internal Medicine 2, Caritas-Krankenhaus Bad Mergentheim, Bad Mergentheim D-97980, Germany
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest. No financial support.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Christoph F Dietrich, MD, PhD, MBA, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine 2, Caritas-Krankenhaus Bad Mergentheim, Uhlandstr. 7, Bad Mergentheim D-97980, Germany. christoph.dietrich@ckbm.de
Telephone: +49-793158-2201/2200 Fax: +49-793158-2290
Received: February 1, 2018
Peer-review started: February 2, 2018
First decision: February 24, 2018
Revised: March 20, 2018
Accepted: March 30, 2018
Article in press: March 30, 2018
Published online: April 21, 2018
Processing time: 77 Days and 3.7 Hours
Abstract

Ultrasound findings in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) have not been reported systematically so far. The use of reliable and accurate noninvasive methods for determining fibrosis stage is important in evaluation of treatment efficacy and fibrosis regression in AIH. Imaging plays an important role in detection of complications and ruling out other possible causes of chronic liver diseases. Ultrasound elastography cut-off values in AIH patients are not the same as those in patients with chronic viral hepatitis or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. AIH is characterized by wide fluctuations in inflammatory activity. Here we report on current knowledge of ultrasound findings in AIH.

Keywords: Autoimmune hepatitis; Fibrosis stage; Ultrasound; Elastography; Chronic liver diseases

Core tip: Accurate noninvasive imaging to determine fibrosis stages is of importance in the evaluation of treatment efficacy and fibrosis regression in autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). The cut-off values in AIH patients are not the same as those in patients with chronic viral hepatitis or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.