Evaluation of liver parenchyma with shear wave elastography in patients with rheumatoid arthritis receiving disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug therapy

Background Methotrexate (MTX) and leflunomide (LEF) play fundamental roles in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment and require proper monitoring of side effects. Concerns about MTX/LEF‐related liver fibrosis (LF) in patients with RA remain unclear. This study investigated liver stiffness using two‐dimensional shear wave elastography (2D‐SWE) in RA patients undergoing disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy. Moreover, 2D‐SWE was employed to evaluate the correlations between liver stiffness, cumulative MTX and LEF doses and risk factors for substantial LF. Methods We recruited 222 participants from the Department of Rheumatology. The participants were divided into healthy controls ( n = 78) and patients with RA ( n = 144). Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to assess the correlations between liver stiffness and the cumulative dose of MTX/LEF and other clinical and laboratory variables. Results The mean elasticity modulus was 4.79 ± 0.92 kPa, excluding the presence of significant fibrosis. Mean 2D‐SWE values were significantly lower in healthy controls than in RA treated with MTX and LEF. The cut‐off ≥3.8 kPa 2D‐SWE values with the sensitivity of 86.1%, specifity of 83.3%. 2D‐SWE values were not significantly different across the strata of the cumulative MTX subgroups. Conclusions MTX and LEF increase liver stiffness but may be considered low risk for the development of LF.