{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,17]],"date-time":"2026-07-17T23:26:49Z","timestamp":1784330809219,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,30]],"date-time":"2024-11-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1732924800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diseases"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Purpose: To evaluate the ability of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) elastography in differentiating benign from malignant etiologies of splenomegaly based on differences in splenic stiffness. Materials and Methods: Between September 2020 and November 2022, we evaluated 40 patients with splenomegaly\u2014defined by a splenic long axis greater than 13 cm and\/or a short axis greater than 6 cm, without visible focal or infiltrative mass lesions\u2014using abdominal ultrasound at our university hospital. Each patient also underwent a standardized ARFI elastographic assessment of the enlarged spleen, with data collected prospectively. We then retrospectively analyzed the cases with confirmed etiologies of splenomegaly from their final medical reports. Mean ARFI velocities (MAV) were compared across patients with splenomegaly due to malignant infiltration (MIS) from hematological malignancy, congestive splenomegaly (CS) due to portal or splenic vein congestion\/occlusion, and immune-related splenomegaly (IRS) associated with systemic infectious or autoimmune diseases. Results: Among the 40 patients with splenomegaly, 21 (52.5%) were diagnosed with malignant infiltrative splenomegaly (MIS), 11 (27.5%) with congestive splenomegaly (CS), and 8 (20%) with immune-related splenomegaly (IRS). The mean ARFI velocities (MAV) for the MIS, CS, and IRS groups were 3.25 \u00b1 0.68 m\/s, 3.52 \u00b1 0.47 m\/s, and 2.84 \u00b1 0.92 m\/s, respectively. No significant differences were observed in splenic stiffness (MAV) among these groups. Conclusions: Differentiating between benign and malignant etiologies of splenomegaly based on stiffness differences observed in ARFI elastography is not feasible. Larger prospective studies are necessary to validate these findings.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diseases12120308","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,2]],"date-time":"2024-12-02T09:00:10Z","timestamp":1733130010000},"page":"308","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Differentiating Benign from Malignant Causes of Splenomegaly: Is Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Elastography Helpful?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1308-988X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amjad","family":"Alhyari","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Metabolism and Clinical Infectiology, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Philipp University of Marburg, Baldingerstra\u00dfe, 35037 Marburg, Germany"},{"name":"Interdisciplinary Centre of Ultrasound Diagnostics, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Philipp University of Marburg, Baldingerstra\u00dfe, 35037 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oussama","family":"Dob","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Radiology, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Philipp University of Marburg, 35037 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9775-3989","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ehsan","family":"Safai Zadeh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, 1019 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6015-6347","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christoph Frank","family":"Dietrich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department Allgemeine Innere Medizin (DAIM), Kliniken Hirslanden Bern, Beau Site, Salem und Permanence, 3013 Bern, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Corrina","family":"Trenker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Interdisciplinary Centre of Ultrasound Diagnostics, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Philipp University of Marburg, Baldingerstra\u00dfe, 35037 Marburg, Germany"},{"name":"Hematology, Oncology and Immunology, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Philipps University Marburg, Baldingerstra\u00dfe, 35037 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9333-5461","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Thomas M.","family":"Gress","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Metabolism and Clinical Infectiology, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Philipp University of Marburg, Baldingerstra\u00dfe, 35037 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1900-5149","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christian","family":"G\u00f6rg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Metabolism and Clinical Infectiology, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Philipp University of Marburg, Baldingerstra\u00dfe, 35037 Marburg, Germany"},{"name":"Interdisciplinary Centre of Ultrasound Diagnostics, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Philipp University of Marburg, Baldingerstra\u00dfe, 35037 Marburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"De Schepper, A.M., and Vanhoenacker, F. 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