Percutaneous real-time sonoelastography as a non-invasive tool for the characterization of solid focal XXXX : A prospective study.

@entity1 @entity3358 @entity96 @entity409 @entity4383 @entity3
BACKGROUND: Real-time sonoelastography is currently used for the characterization of superficial solid lesions such as thyroid and breast masses. This study evaluates the usefulness of percutaneous sonoelastography for the characterization of solid focal @entity409 . METHODS: 30 out of 43 @entity1 with 38 known @entity409 were included in a prospective, diagnostic study. Qualitative analysis (pattern of deformation, @entity96 ) and semi-quantitative measurements (strain ratio, @entity3358 percentage, histogram) were evaluated. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were calculated and the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was constructed. RESULTS: Patterns A and C-D are specific of benign lesions and @entity3 respectively. The patterns for haemangiomas, @entity4383 and @entity3 were significantly different to each other in terms of strain ratio, @entity3358 percentage and histogram (p<0.05). A statistically significant difference (p<0.001) was observed between the median values of the 3 measured parameters for benign (1.02; 12%; 47) and malignant lesions (1.66; 65%; 20.5) respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve values for strain ratio, @entity3358 percentage and histogram were 0.88, 0.89, and 0.86 respectively for cut-off values of 1.2, 45, and 30. CONCLUSIONS: By percutaneous sonoelastography it is possible to differentiate benign versus malignant focal @entity409 , @entity3 in particular, with good diagnostic performance.
