Elastography in the management of liver disease.

Normal liver tissue is soft and pliable. With inflammation, however, many of the cells die and are replaced by collagenous fibrils and the tissue gets stiffer. The progress is often slow-extending over decades in many cases. When liver stiffness increases by a factor of about five, the condition is called cirrhosis, a disease with serious medical implications. After the onset of cirrhosis, the probability of developing hepatic cancer increases at the rate of about 5% per year. Precise, noninvasive measurement of liver stiffness, a simple application of elastography, promises to be a safe, inexpensive method to monitor the progress of liver patients, improve outcome, save many lives and much suffering and reduce the cost of medical care.