The Diagnostic Value of MRI-Based Radiomic Analysis of Lacrimal Glands in Patients with Sjögren's Syndrome.

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of MRI-based texture features of the lacrimal glands (LG) in augmenting the imaging differentiation between primary Sjögren's Syndrome (pSS) affected LG and healthy LG, as well as to emphasize the possible importance of radiomics in pSS early-imaging diagnosis. The MRI examinations of 23 patients diagnosed with pSS and 23 healthy controls were retrospectively included. Texture features of both LG were extracted from a coronal post-contrast T1-weighted sequence, using a dedicated software. The ability of texture features to discriminate between healthy and pSS lacrimal glands was performed through univariate, multivariate, and receiver operating characteristics analysis. Two quantitative textural analysis features, RunLengthNonUniformityNormalized (RLNonUN) and Maximum2DDiameterColumn (Max2DDC), were independent predictors of pSS-affected glands (p < 0.001). Their combined ability was able to identify pSS LG with 91.67% sensitivity and 83.33% specificity. MRI-based texture features have the potential to function as quantitative additional criteria that could increase the diagnostic accuracy of pSS-affected LG.

Functional Evaluation of Major Salivary Glands Using Viscosity PLUS and 2D Shear-Wave PLUS Elastography Techniques in Healthy Subjects-A Pilot Study.

Biological soft tissues are characterized by viscoelastic properties. The propagation of shear waves within tissues is influenced by both elasticity, which is linked to the shear wave speed, and viscosity, which is linked to the shear wave dispersion. This study aimed to functionally assess the parotid glands (PG) and submandibular glands (SMG) in a group of 40 healthy subjects using the novel Viscosity PLUS (Vi.PLUS) and 2D Shear-Wave Elastography PLUS (2D-SWE.PLUS) techniques. The viscosity and stiffness of PG and SMG were measured before and after gustatory stimulation with a sialagogue agent (commercially available lemon juice) using the new SuperSonic MACH 30 ultrasound system equipped with a curvilinear C6-1X transducer. PG presented a mean basal viscosity and elasticity of 2.10 ± 0.19 Pa.s and 11.32 ± 1.91 kPa, respectively, which significantly increased poststimulation to 2.39 ± 0.17 Pa.s (p < 0.001) and 12.58 ± 1.92 kPa (p < 0.001), respectively. SMG did not present statistically increased values of viscosity and elasticity following stimulation (2.31 ± 015 Pa.s vs. 2.37 ± 0.18 Pa.s, p = 0.086, and 10.40 ± 1.64 kPa vs. 10.90 ± 1.98 kPa, p = 0.074, respectively). Vi.PLUS measurements presented a good positive correlation with 2D-SWE.PLUS values for PG and SMG, before and after stimulation. Gender and BMI were not confounding factors for these two parameters. Vi.PLUS represents an innovative non-invasive imaging technique that, together with 2D-SWE.PLUS proves to be useful in functionally assessing the major salivary glands in healthy subjects.

Differentiating benign from malignant superficial lymph nodes with sonoelastography.

The aim of the paper is to provide a comprehensive overview on the applications of real time sonoelastography (SE) in the diagnosis of superficial lymphadenopathy. Some technical aspects of performing SE are presented as a preamble. The typical appearance of benign and malignant nodes is illustrated. The paper discusses and depicts the various elastographic scores in use. It also provides a critical appraisal of the relative strain ratio (SR) or stiffness index. Shear wave elastography, as a novel technique, is mentioned. In conclusion, hardness on more than 50% of the node surface or SR > 1.5 is fair to good indicators of malignancy. Work is still needed both to fully understand the various appearance of disease and to standardize the application.