ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the clinical value of real‐time elastography in evaluating rabbit carotid vulnerable plaque . Methods Thirty male New Zealand rabbits ( weighted from 2 .0 to 3 .0 kg) were all fed with high cholesterol diet for one week before balloon injury of their right common carotid arteries . Then they were categorized randomly into two groups which were continued fed by high cholesterol diet for 6 and 12 weeks ,respectively . Ultrasound and real‐time elastography of their right common carotid arteries were applied after their anesthesia by ear marginal vein . Strains of the carotid plaques were measured and analyzed statistically by two independent experienced sonographers . All the rabbits were sacrificed by air embolism method after all the examinations . The atherosclerotic rabbit common carotid lesions were dissected ,fixed for pathologic examination , and graded according to the standard of American Heart Association ( AHA) ,which were compared with the real‐time elastography findings . Results Real‐time elastography had well repeatability between different operators . Consistency between elastography and the AHA pathology was quite good ,with the Cohen′s kappa= 0 .803 (95% CI 0 .669 to 0 .938) . Strains of different regions in a plaque had statistically significant difference ( P <0 .000 1) . By using strain higher than 0 .37% ,the sensitivity and specificity of detecting a lipid core were 88 .0% and 81 .6% ,and area under ROC curve was 0 .902 (95% CI 0 .810 -0 .959 , P < 0 .0001) . Conclusions Real‐time elastography can display the inner elastic characteristics of the rabbit carotid plaques ,and may help evaluate the grading of a plaque . The strain value may help detect a necrotic core ,thereby help evaluate the stability of a plaque .
ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the clinical value of three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound (3D PDUS) in diagnosing cervical cancers.Methods 162 patients with cervical lesions were enrolled.All the cases were confirmed by autopsy or surgery.Vascularization index (VI),flow index (FI) and vascularization flow index(VFI) were all measured and compared.The pathological findings was taken as golden standard.ROC curve was used to find the best cut-off value.Results 3D PDUS indices of benign and malignant lesions were statistically different (P ＜0.0001).The best cut-off value of VI was 4.63 using ROC curves,the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.94,the sensitivity and specificity were 89.10％ and 86.30％,respectively.The best cut-off value of FI was 34.39 using ROC curves,AUC was 0.76,the sensitivity and specificity were 73.40％ and 76.70％,respectively.The best cut-off value of VFI was 1.60 using ROC curves,AUC was 0.93,the sensitivity and specificity were 87.50 ％ and 86.30 ％,respectively.Conclusions 3D PDUS was a new and noninvasive way for the clinical to differentiate benign and malignant cervical lesions.
ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical value of transvaginal elastography in diagnosing cervical cancers.MethodsTotally,124 patients of cervical lesions with definite pathological results were enrolled.Elastograms were collected and the strain ratios of the benign and malignant lesions were record and compared.ROC curve was used to find the best cut-off point.ResultsElastography was useful in differentiating benign and malignant lesions by different color.Values of strain ratio of different pathological lesions were statistically different ( P ＜0.01).The mean value of strain ratio was 2.71 ± 1.56 for benign lesions and 8.32 ± 4.11 for malignant ones.The best cut-off point was 4.99 basing on the ROC curve.The sensitivity and specificity were 80.7％ and 89.6％,respectively.ConclusionsReal-time transvaginal elastography was a new way in differential diagnosing cervical cancers from benign lesions of the cervix.