ObjectiveTo study the Young's modulus obtained by the real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) in healthy adults' parotid gland and submaxillary gland and to explore the probable factors affecting the Young's modulus, such as bilateral parotid and submaxillary gland, sex, age, height and weight. MethodsThere were 35 healthy volunteers who underwent SWE in parotid gland and submaxillary gland between December 3 and 18, 2013. The difference of Young's modulus in bilateral parotid and submaxillary gland, and the modulus values of different sex, age, height and weight groups were also compared. ResultsThe Young's modulus of parotid gland was (8.14±1.78) kPa, and the Young's modulus of submaxillary gland was (11.52±2.34) kPa. The differences of Young's modulus between the two sides of parotid gland and submaxillary gland were not statistically significant (P>0.05); the differences of Young's modulus of parotid and submaxillary gland between different sex, age, height and weight groups had no statistical significance, either (P>0.05). ConclusionThe real-time shear wave elastography can be applied to evaluate the elasticity of parotid and submaxillary gland and to lay the foundation for further diagnosis of salivary lesions.
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is widely used in coronary artery examination. Ultrasonic elastography combined with IVUS is very conspicuous in identifying plaque component and in detecting plaque vulnerability degree. In this study, a simulation model of the blood vessel based on finite element analysis (FEA) was established. The vessel walls generally have radial changes caused by different intravascular pressure. The signals at lower pressures were used as the pre-deformation data and the signals at higher pressure were used as the post-deformation data. Displacement distribution was constructed using the time-domain cross-correlation method, and then strain images. By comparison of elastograms under different pressures, we obtained the optimal pressure step. Furthermore, on the basis of the obtained optimize pressure step, the simulation results showed that this method could effectively distinguish characteristics between different component plaques, and could guide the later experiments and clinical applications.
Objective To evaluate the security and validity of the acute extreme hypervolemic hemodilution (AEHH) in spine surgery. Methods Thirteen patients(8 males, 5 females; age, 16-65 years; weight, 50-75 kg) who had undergone major spine operations were enrolled in this study. Eleven of them had undergone anterior decompression, who were given the grafting and the internal fixation for their thoracolumber spinal burst fractures; the other 2 patients were given the correction operation for their scoliosis. The baselines of the haematocrit (Hct）were 0.363-0.481 before operation. The patients had no cardiac, pulmonary, hepatic or renal dysfunction or coagulation abnormality. The hemodynamic status and the haematocrit were observed during operation. The parameters of thromboelastography (TEG)，arterial blood gas, and electrolytes were measured and observed at the following time points: before AEHH, after AEHH, 60 minutes after AEHH, 120 minutes after AEHH, and the end of the operation. The total fluid volume was recorded. Results The autologous blood volume was1 050-1 575 ml (average,1 419±198 ml), plasma substitute 2 100-3 150 ml (average,2 838±397 ml), blood loss1 000-3 130 ml (average, 1 747±743 ml), urine 450-1 270 ml (average, 871±374 ml), and the net blood transfusion 1 206-2 661 ml(1 863±598 ml). The homogenous blood of 400 ml was transfused in 1 patient for making upthe blood loss of 3 130 ml. There were no statistically significant differencesin the hemodynamic measurements, arterial blood gas, and electrolyte variables when compared with the baseline values before the hemodilution (Pgt;0.05). The reaction time of TEG was longer 60 minutes after AEHH than before AEHH (Plt;0.05); the other parameters of TEG had no differences when compared with the baseline values (Pgt;0.05). Conclusion The AEHH is safe and efficient in reduction of the perioperative homogenous blood transfusion in spine surgery.
Objective To analyze the diagnostic value of shear wave elastography (SWE) combined with vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGF-B) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in early diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Methods A total of 100 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) admitted to Mianyang Central Hospital between October 2020 and October 2023 were selected and divided into a T2DM with DPN group (n=31) and a T2DM without DPN group (n=69) based on the presence or absence of DPN. Additionally, 50 healthy individuals from the same hospital’s health examination center were included as a healthy control group. The basic clinical characteristics, mean elasticity (Emean) values of the left and right median and tibial nerves, serum VEGF-B, and HbA1c levels were compared among the three groups. The diagnostic efficacy of SWE, VEGF-B, and HbA1c for DPN was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, and Pearson correlation analysis was performed to assess the relationships between median/tibial nerve Emean and VEGF-B/HbA1c. Results The Emean values of the left and right median nerves, Emean values of the left and right tibial nerves, serum VEGF-B, and HbA1c levels in the T2DM with DPN group were significantly higher than those in the T2DM without DPN group and the healthy control group (P<0.05). The Emean values of the left and right median and tibial nerves, Emean values of the left and right tibial nerves, and HbA1c level in the T2DM without DPN group were significantly higher than those in the healthy control group (P<0.05), while no significant difference was observed in serum VEGF-B level between the T2DM without DPN group and the healthy control group (P>0.05). The area under the ROC curve for the combined diagnosis of DPN using SWE, VEGF-B, and HbA1c was 0.859 [95% confidence interval (0.828, 0.955)]. The sensitivity of the combined diagnosis (93.72%) was significantly higher than that of individual diagnoses (78.82%, 75.39%, and 71.05%, respectively; P<0.05), while the specificity (88.64%) showed no significant difference compared to individual diagnoses (80.18%, 78.96%, and 82.88%, respectively; P>0.05). Positive correlations were observed between median/tibial nerve Emean and VEGF-B/HbA1c levels (r=0.428, 0.395, 0.416, and 0.416, respectively; P<0.05). Conclusions Elevated median/tibial nerve Emean, serum VEGF-B, and HbA1c levels are closely associated with DPN. The combination of SWE, VEGF-B, and HbA1c improves diagnostic sensitivity for DPN, demonstrating significant clinical value.
Objective To investigate the diagnostic value of strain elastography (SE) and virtual touch tissue image quantification (VTIQ) technique in determining the nature of cervical lymph nodes in patients with lung cancer. Methods A total of 124 patients with lung cancer combined with cervical lymph node enlargement were selected for this study. All patients underwent routine ultrasound examination, using SE to detect lymph nodes and scored them, and using VTIQ technique fro measurement of lymph node shear wave velocity (SWV). Pathological results were taken as gold standards. Non-metastatic lymph nodes were included in the benign group, while metastatic lymph nodes were included in the malignant group. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was generated. The optimal cutoff value of SWV was determined for predicting metastatic lymph nodes, the area under curve (AUC) of SE and VTIQ technique was compared, and the diagnostic efficacy of SE and VTIQ technique for benign and malignant lymph nodes was analyzed. Results Among the 124 patients, 28 cases of benign lymph nodes had an SE score of 2 - 3, and 59 cases of malignant lymph nodes had an SE score of 4 - 5. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of SE were 70.2%, 75.6%, and 60.9%, respectively. The maximum, minimum, median, and mean values of SWV in the malignant lymph nodes were significantly higher than those in the benign lymph nodes in VTIQ technique testing (P<0.05). Based on the ROC curve analysis, the mean value of SWV had the highest diagnostic efficiency, and its cutoff value of 3.18 m/s was used as the diagnostic criterion for predicting malignant lymph nodes. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the VTIQ technique in diagnosing malignant lymph nodes were 85.5%, 92.3%, and 73.9%, respectively. The AUC of SE and VTIQ technique were 0.713 and 0.896, respectively, indicating higher diagnostic value of VTIQ technique. Conclusions Both SE and VTIQ technique have high accuracy in determining the nature of cervical lymph nodes in lung cancer patients. Compared with SE, VTIQ technique showed superior diagnostic performance, and SWVmean has the best diagnostic performance. It can provide a new non-invasive examination method for evaluating the nature of cervical lymph nodes in lung cancer patients in clinical practice.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the clinical value of ultrasonographic elastography (UE) for the differential diagnosis of benign/malignant thyroid nodules. MethodsWe comprehensively searched the databases including The Cochrane Library (Issue2, 2013), PubMed, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data, Medalink, VIP and CBM from inception to the December of 2013, for including clinical research reports of determining thyroid nodules using ultrasonographic elastography. Literature screening according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data extraction and methodological quality assessment were completed by two reviewers independently. Then Meta-DiSc software (version 1.4) was used for pooling analysis. ResultsA total of 35 studies including 4 127 patients were included. The results of metaanalysis showed that, specificity, sensitivity, positive likelihood radio, negative likelihood radio and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were 0.89 (0.88 to 0.90), 0.88 (0.86 to 0.90), 6.37 (5.44 to7.47), 0.13 (0.11 to 0.16) and 58.72 (43.12 to 79.98), respectively; and the area under SROC curve (AUC) was 0.936 9. ConclusionCurrent evidence shows that ultrasonographic elastography has fairly high sensitivity (88%) and specificity (89%) in differential diagnosis of benign/malignant thyroid nodules. The positive rate in the malignant thyroid group is 58.72 times higher that in benign thyroid cancer with better efficacy in differential diagnosis, so ultrasonographic elastography is of effective and feasible diagnostic value for thyroid benign/malignant nodules.
ObjectiveTo explore the diagnostic value of ultrasound elastography (USE) combined with long non-coding RNA actin filament associated protein 1 anti-sense RNA 1 (AFAP1-AS1) mRNA in thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) wash-out fluid for distinguishing benign from malignant thyroid nodules. MethodsThe patients with thyroid nodules who were treated in the Shenzhen Futian District Second People’s Hospital from January 2020 to June 2022 were collected. Before operation, the patients’ thyroid nodules were evaluated by the USE score and the AFAP1-AS1 mRNA in the thyroid FNA wash-out fluid was detected. The pathological result of the thyroid nodule after operation was as a gold standard for diagnosis of malignant thyroid nodules. The clinical diagnostic value of USE score combined with AFAP1-AS1 mRNA in the FNA wash-out fluid of the benign and malignant thyroid nodules were analyzed. ResultsA total of 174 thyroid nodules (124 patients) were detected in this study, of which 62 (45 patients) were histologically diagnosed as malignant. There was a statistical difference in the comparison of the composition ratio of USE score grading between the benign and malignant thyroid nodules (Z=8.82, P<0.001). The point of USE of the benign thyroid nodules was statistically lower than that of the malignant thyroid nodules [2.28±1.16 vs. 4.26±1.01, mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI)=2.98 (2.76, 3.20), t=30.85, P<0.001]. The AFAP1-AS1 mRNA in the FNA wash-out fluid of the malignant thyroid nodules was statistically higher than that of the benign thyroid nodules [1.45±0.27 vs. 1.13±0.16, MD (95%CI)=1.45(1.39, 1.50), t=10.69, P<0.001]. Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was a positive correlation between the USE score of thyroid nodules and the expression of AFAP1-AS1 mRNA in the FNA wash-out fluid (r=0.58, P<0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of USE score in combination with expression of AFAP1-AS1 mRNA in the FNA wash-out fluid for diagnosing the malignant thyroid nodules by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 93.5% and 88.4% respectively. The area under the ROC curve (95%CI) was 0.91 (0.86, 0.96). Conclusion According to preliminary results of this study, USE score combined with AFAP1-AS1 mRNA in the thyroid FNA wash-out fluid is more sensitive and shows a potential diagnostic performance than USE score or AFAP1-AS1 mRNA detection alone for distinguishing benign from malignant thyroid nodules.
Objective To compare differences of characteristics of ultrasonic elasticity imaging for benign and malignant small thyroid nodules with or without Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT). Methods The thyroid nodules with ≤1 cm size and the category 4A, 4B, 4C, and 5 of Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS) were included into this study, and a further examination of real-time elastography was performed. The final diagnosis was relied on the pathological diagnosis. The elasticity score and strain ratio (SR) were recorded and compared between these two groups, respectively. Results Of the 424 nodules, 103 nodules were accompanied with HT (thyroid nodule with HT group), 321 nodules were not accompanied with HT (thyroid nodule without HT group). In the thyroid nodule with HT group, the area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve (AUCs) of the elasticity score and the SR was 0.685 and 0.676, respectively; the optimal cut offs of the elasticity score and the SR was 3 points and 2.45 respectively, their corresponding sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy was 75.7%, 57.6%, 68.0% and 75.7%, 60.6%, 67.6%, respectively. In the thyroid nodule without HT group, the AUCs of the elasticity score and the SR was 0.692 and 0.692, respectively; the optimal cut offs of the elasticity score and the SR was 4 points and 2.84, respectively; their corresponding sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy was 57.5%, 74.2%, 69.2% and 76.1%, 59.7%, 67.7%, respectively. Conclusions Elastography is helpful in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant small thyroid nodules. While, standards of elasticity score and SR value in differential diagnosis are different between benign and malignant small thyroid nodules with HT and without HT, elasticity score and SR ratio decrease in benign and malignant small thyroid nodules with HT.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the changes in thrombelastography(TEG) during orthotopic liver transplantation （OLT） in Chinese. MethodsTwentyfive patients with cirrhosis of liver undergoing OLT were studied. They were composed of two groups: cirrhosis group （n=15） and liver neoplasm group （n=10）. Anesthesia was induced with propofol 1.5-2 mg/kg,fentanyl 3-5 μg/kg and vecuronium 0.1 mg/kg and maintained with isoflurane or enflurane inhalation.The operation was divided into three phases: ① before operation and preanhepatic phase （120 min after operation was started）, ② 30 min after liver was removed,③ 5 min before reperfusion and 5 min,15 min,30 min,60 min and 120 min after reperfusion.In 8 patients among the 25 patients heparinasecelite TEG was measured 5 min after reperfusion in addition to celite TEG.If there was significant differences in traces between the two TEG measurements,an intravenous bolus of 50-75 mg protamine was given and the heparinasecelite TEG was repeated.The measured variables included the r （reaction） time,representing the rate of initial fibrin formation K （coagulation） time, alpha angles （α） reflecting fibrinplatelet interaction, MA （maximal amplitude） indicating qualitative platelet function and percent fibrinolysis at 60 min. ResultsIn cirrhosis group changes in TEG occurred after liver was removed and in earlier period after reperfusion, while in liver neoplasm group changes in TEG were found in earlier period after reperfusion as compared with preoperative value.At 5 min after reperfusion there were significant differences in TEG （r，K，α and MA） values between celite and heparincelite TEG （P＜0.01）. ConclusionDuring OLT coagulation disorder occurs mainly at anhepatic and early reperfusion phase.
ObjectiveTo explore the significance of quantitative parameters of tissue diffusion included in the real-time ultrasound elastography (RTE), in diagnosing the degree of liver fibrosis. MethodFrom July 2012 to November 2014, liver biopsy being the gold standard for evaluating hepatic fibrosis stage, we performed RTE on 112 hepatitis patients and analyzed the elastogram we got. At the same time, we carried out quantitative analysis of tissue diffusion in these patients, and obtained the values of liver fibrosis index (LFI) of right liver parenchyma. Subsequently, we compared the biopsy pathological results with the values of LFI, and single-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was adopted to compare the LFI among patients with variant degrees of liver fibrosis. If there were any discrepancies, least significant difference method would be adopted in order to compare one with the other from different groups. Finally, critical value of LFI of different-stage liver fibrosis was obtained with the help of receiver operator characteristic (ROC)curve. ResultsChronological liver fibrosis was classified into stage 0, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, and stage 4, and their LFI values were 2.36±0.46, 2.38±0.45, 2.84±0.54, 3.16±0.59, and 3.69±0.55, respectively. ANOVA showed that the LFI values of different-stage fibrosis had significant differences (F=29.959, P<0.001). However, there was no difference between stage 0 and stage 1 (P=0.920), or between stage 2 and stage 3 (P=0.076). The area under the ROC curve for stage 0-1 and stage 2-3, stage 2-3 and S4 was respectively 0.784 and 0.799, and their critical value was 2.83 and 3.69 respectively. ConclusionsThe real-time ultrasound elastography is a feasible and non-invasive method in diagnosing the degree of hepatitis fibrosis and LFI has advantage in distinguishing different stage of liver fibrosis.