QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE APPROACH FOR SHEAR WAVE ELASTOGRAPHY IN SUPERFICIAL LYMPH NODES ADEGPLT INDA

The diagnostic contribution of 2-D shear-wave elastography (SWE) in management of superficial lymph nodes (LNs) of any origin was evaluated in 222 patients referred for needle core biopsy. Each patient underwent conventional B-mode/Doppler ultrasound examinations (conventional ultrasound) and SWE. Quantitative SWE parameters and qualitative SWE map features were extracted. Carcinomas were found to be significantly stiffer than benign LNs (29.5 +/- 32.3 kPa vs. 6.7 +/- 12.3 kPa). Lymphomas exhibited intermediate stiffness (11.4 +/- 5.2 kPa). Qualitative SWE analysis provided color patterns specific to histopathology (stiff rim, nodular and undetermined patterns related to malignancy and blue pattern to benignity). Adding SWE to conventional ultrasound improved the sensitivity of LN diagnosis (from 81.1% to 92.0%) but decreased its specificity (from 73.2% to 67.6%) because of the high prevalence of lymphomas compared with carcinomas. Inter-observer agreement for quantitative SWE was good (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.82) as was inter-observer diagnostic agreement for qualitative SWE (kappa = 0.65). LN location and histology type were found to influence the reported diagnostic performance of SWE. (C) 2021 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the diagnostic contribution of 2-D shear-wave elastography in managing superficial lymph nodes and found that SWE improved the sensitivity of LN diagnosis while decreasing its specificity, influenced by the location and histology type of the lymph nodes.