Role Of Strain Elastography In The Characterization Of Benign And Malignant Nature Of The Thyroid Nodules.

Elastography is an imaging technique to measure the stiffness of tissues. Images are acquired before and after soft compression of tissues and the deformation is evaluated. Strain ratio -calculated as the ratio of stiffness between nodular tissue and surrounding normal thyroid tissue. With prior verbal and written consent patients were examined on gray-scale ultrasound on transverse images and then using elastographic ultrasonography technique. patients were followed up by fnac findings & postoperative histopathology report in cases of inconclusive FNAC reports. This is prospective study conducted on 200 subjects at Government Medical College, Department of RADIO-DIAGNOSIS, Nagpur from November 2016 to 2018. Regarding sonoelastograph, relation between elastograph scores and thyroid malignancies showing sensitivity, specificity and p value is calculated. The most accurate strain ratio cutoff value among studies calculated. RESULTS: Ultrasound Strain elastography is a promising imaging technique that is useful in the differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Further improvements in the technique and the diagnostic criteria are necessary for this examination to provide a useful contribution to diagnosis. The use of Real Time ultrasound strain elastography would lead to low thyroid FNAC’s because of the high elasticity of being strongly associated with a benign cytology.

Could semiquantitative analysis of real-time ultrasound elastography distinguish more liver parenchyma alterations of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome?

ABSTRACT Objective: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is the commonest diffuse liver disease, of which women with polycystic ovary syndrome are at an increased risk. The aim of the present study was to assess the diagnostic value of the semiquantitative strain parameters of real-time ultrasound elastography for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. Subjects and methods: Thirty-five polycystic ovary syndrome patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, 70 polycystic ovary syndrome patients without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and 70 healthy female controls of reproductive age were included. All participants underwent ultrasonic examination and semiquantitative analysis of real-time ultrasound elastography of the liver. Results: Main semi quantitative strain parameters, such as average strain value, differed significantly among groups polycystic ovary syndrome with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, polycystic ovary syndrome without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and control (87.02 ± 10.16 vs. 96.31 ± 11.44 vs. 104.49 ± 7.28, p < 0.001). Clinical and laboratory parameters differed significantly between the two subgroups with low or high average strain value. For diagnostic value of average strain value for elevated aminotransferase, the area under the curve was 0.808 (range 0.721-0.895). In multiple linear regression analysis, polycystic ovary syndrome, waist circumference, and metabolic syndrome were stand-alone independent factors associated with average strain value among subjects without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Conclusion: Semiquantitative real-time ultrasound elastography analysis could distinguish liver parenchyma alterations in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome more sensitively. The diagnostic value of the proposed method for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease need further research.

Application Value of Ultrasound Elastography Techniques in the Treatment of Uterine Fibroids Radiofrequency Ablation / 现代生物医学进展

Objective:To investigate the application value of real-time ultrasound elastography in the treatment of fibroids radiofrequency ablation (RFA).Methods:Transvaginal ultrasonography,Real-time ultrasound elastography (RTE) and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) were performed on 34 patients with a total of 38 uterine fibroids who had the treatment of RFA before,1 hour and 3 months after the treatment of RFA.Detected the diameters of the lesions with the three methods of CEUS,RTE and 2D.Analysed the elastic image features and divided into groups,Measured the elastic strain ratio and compared the E/E0 in and between the group.The difference of lesion diameter between 2D,RTE and CEUS was compared.When the image of lesions showed blue and green was taken as the cirterion of incomplete ablation after RFA,conpared with CEUS,analysed the consistency of RTE and CEUS in evaluating the degree of ablation.Results:The lesions were divided into 3 groups according to the preoperative elastic image,with 8 (21.1％) in the blue group,20 (52.6％) in blue-based and 10 (26.3％) in green-based group.The difference was obvious in E/E0 between the 3 groups before RFA.There was no significant difference in E/E0 between 1 hour and 3 months after RFA (P ＞ 0.05).In each group the E/E0 of lesions were significantly increased at 1 hour and 3 months after the treatment of FRA,and the hardness of 3 months after RFA was harder than that of 1 hour after RFA(P＜0.05).The diameter measured by RTE was larger than that by 2D and CEUS before RFA(P＞0.05).The diameter measured by 2D was larger than that by RTE and CEUS at 1 hour after RFA (P＜0.05).No statistically significant difference was found in the lesion diameters among the three methods of2D,RTE and CEUS at 3 months after the treatment ofRFA (P＞0.05).CEUS and RTE had the basic consistent in the evaluation of lesions ablation degree at 1 hour (kappa=0.46) and 3 months (kappa=0.54) after the treatment of RFA.Conclusions:After RFA,the myoma gradually hardens,and RTE can reflect the change of the hardness,RTE can clearly show the boundary of uterine ftbroids especially after the treatment of RFA,can be used in the prediction of lesions ablation degree,so there was a certain application value of RTE used in RFA.