Table 3. Comparison of CEUS hemodynamic indexes for liver fibrosis staging.
| Liver fibrosis stage | PV-MTT(s) (median, range) |
PV-RT(s) (median, range) |
PV-TTP(s) (median, range) |
PV-Imax (%) (mean ± SD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F0 | 28.3 (18.0–40.9) | 9.5 (6.5–12.3) | 11.4 (7.0–15.0) | 454.5 ± 100.6 |
| F1 | 34.7 (18.8–55.2) | 11.5 (7.6–19.2) | 11.5 (9.0–19.6) | 358.6 ± 110.9 |
| F2 | 36.7 (19.0–45.6) | 10.0 (7.9–12.1) | 11.1 (8.5–13.5) | 274.0 ± 73.1* |
| F3 | 28.7 (16.0–47.8) | †*14.3 (7.1–20.6) | †*28.3 (8.3–39.7) | 250.8 ± 102.2* |
| F4 | 31.4 (10.7–58.8) | 11.6 (4.9–21.6) | 13.7 (8.5–23.6) | 260.3 ± 116.4* |
| Kruskal-Wallis / F | 7.0 | 17.2 | 19.4 | 11.5 |
| P value | 0.136 | 0.0017 | 0.0007 | <0.0001 |
The results of ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test showed that P>0.05 in PV-MTT of liver fibrosis among different stages; P<0.05 in PV-Imax, PV-RT and PV-TTP among liver fibrosis at different stages; *P<0.05 compared with F0 stage; †P<0.05 compared with F2 stage. CEUS, contrast-enhanced ultrasound; PV, portal vein; Imax, maximum signal intensity; RT, rise time; TTP, time to peak; MTT, mean transit time.