ABSTRACT
Objective:
To analyze the value of
shear wave elastography (SWE) in evaluating
carotid artery elasticity in
type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)
patients with
nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (
NAFLD).
Methods:
A total of 98 T2DM
patients diagnosed in the Second Affiliated
Hospital of Dalian Medical
University were selected and divided into three groups according to the results of
liver ultrasound examination. 35
patients without
NAFLD were in group A, 33
patients with mild
NAFLD were in group B, and 30
patients with moderate to severe
NAFLD were in group C. All selected individuals showed no plaque formation on
carotid ultrasound examination. Left
carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT),
carotid artery systolic diameter (Ds),
carotid artery diastolic diameter (Dd), and peak systolic velocity (PSV) were measured using conventional two-dimensional and M-mode ultrasound. The stiffness coefficient (β) was obtained through calculation. SWE was used to
measure the mean longitudinal
modulus of elasticity (MEmean), mean minimum
modulus of elasticity (MEmin), and mean maximum
modulus of elasticity (MEmax) of the left
carotid artery at the end of
diastole.
Results:
There was no statistically significant difference in Ds, Dd, and PSV among the three groups (all P>0.05). Compared with group A and group B, group C had significantly higher IMT, β, MEmean, MEmax, and MEmin (all P<0.05). Compared with the group A, the group B had higher levels of MEmean, MEmax, and MEmin (all P<0.05), there was no statistically significant difference in IMT and β between the groups (all P>0.05). Correlation
analysis showed that MEmax, MEmean, and MEmin in each group were positively correlated with β ( r=0.537, 0.543, 0.525, P<0.01), and also positively correlated with HbA 1c ( r=0.456, 0.483, 0.438, P<0.01), but not with IMT (all P>0.05). The intra observer Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of MEmax, MEmean and MEmin measured by SWE was 0.847-0.887, and the inter observer ICC was 0.791-0.934, indicating a good repeatability.
Conclusions:
SWE can quantitatively evaluate the
elasticity of the
carotid artery in
patients with T2DM and
NAFLD.