Ma YQ, Xu XR, Li J, Lin Y, Guan Z. Prediction of posthepatectomy liver failure in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma through ultrasound elastography. World J Gastroenterol 2025; 31(4): 99373 [DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i4.99373]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Zheng Guan, MD, Department of Radiology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), No. 158 Shangtang Road, Gongshu District, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China. guanzheng1988@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Imaging Science & Photographic Technology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 28, 2025; 31(4): 99373 Published online Jan 28, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i4.99373
Prediction of posthepatectomy liver failure in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma through ultrasound elastography
Yan-Qing Ma, Xi-Ren Xu, Jie Li, Yi Lin, Zheng Guan
Yan-Qing Ma, Xi-Ren Xu, Jie Li, Yi Lin, Zheng Guan, Department of Radiology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Ma YQ wrote the first draft; Ma YQ and Guan Z conceived the manuscript and designed the methodology; Xu XR and Lin Y wrote and reviewed the article; Xu XR supervised the contributions to the manuscript; Li J and Lin Y validated the article and collected resources; Xu XR and Guan Z edited the article; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Supported by the Medical and Health Research Projects of Health Commission of Zhejiang Province, No. 2022KY040 and No. 2023KY472; and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China, No. LTGY24H180017.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zheng Guan, MD, Department of Radiology, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), No. 158 Shangtang Road, Gongshu District, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang Province, China. guanzheng1988@163.com
Received: July 21, 2024 Revised: November 18, 2024 Accepted: December 2, 2024 Published online: January 28, 2025 Processing time: 161 Days and 23.5 Hours
Abstract
In this article, we comment on the article by Cheng et al published in recently. Posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) remains a leading cause of hepatectomy-related mortality and can be evaluated according to liver reserve function. Liver stiffness (LS) measured by ultrasonic elastography and spleen area demonstrate a strong correlation with hepatic proliferation, fibrosis, and portal vein congestion, thus indirectly reflecting liver reserve function. This article highlights a meticulous study aimed at investigating the potential of two-dimensional shear wave elastography in assessing LS, as well as its integration with spleen area, surgical factors, and laboratory indicators, for predicting the risk of PHLF in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. In this article, we discussed the non-invasive elastography modality by ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging to assess LS. Based on literature data, we subsequently suggested that several risk factors may contribute to PHLF, including excessive intrahepatic neutrophil accumulation, the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps, end-stage liver disease scores, and albumin-bilirubin scores. Therefore, a more comprehensive study incorporating detailed information requires further investigation.
Core Tip: Posthepatectomy liver failure (PHLF) is a major cause of mortality following hepatectomy, and its risk can be assessed by liver reserve function, which is indirectly reflected by liver stiffness measured via ultrasonic elastography. A PHLF nomogram based on ultrasonic measured liver stiffness and spleen area helped to predict PHLF risk in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
