BackgroundBreast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in women worldwide, and sonographic elastography has previously demonstrated good performance in detecting breast malignancies. However, the exact relationship between elastographic measures and clinical prognostic factors is still not well understood. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate any associations between major clinical prognostic factors and strain elastography and to validate the diagnostic value of elastography in breast cancer.Material/MethodsA total of 373 subjects with breast masses, of which 196 were benign and 177 were malignant, were included in the study. All subjects underwent routine ultrasound examination and strain elastography before biopsy. The elastographic measures – strain ratio (SR) for qualitative measures and Tsukuba score (TS) for quantitative measures – were obtained and compared with prognostic factors, including nuclear grade, lymph node status, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER-2). The SR demonstrated the best diagnostic performance in differentiation between malignant and benign lesions.ResultsWith the best cut-off value at 2.42, the SR achieved a sensitivity of 96.0% and specificity of 98.5%. Moreover, higher SRs and TSs were associated with breast lesions with a high nuclear grade and lymph node metastasis and with being ER-negative, PR-negative, and HER-2 negative.ConclusionsElastography is a useful imaging technique in differentiating benign breast masses from malignant ones. The strong relationship between prognostic factors and elastographic measures also demonstrated its excellent performance in predicting the prognosis of breast malignancies.
Purpose Using three-dimensional speckle tracking
echocardiography (3D-STE) to evaluate left ventricular (LV) function in
patients with triple vessel coronary artery disease(TVD) without
myocardial infarction. Methods Sixty patients with TVD without
myocardial infarction were divided into two groups according to the
results of coronary angiography. Group B (n=31):50%≤the stenosis rates
of all triple vessel coronary artery<75%; Group C (n=29):the stenosis
rates of all triple vessel coronary artery≥75%. Thirty healthy subjects
were recruited as the group A. We measured LV end-diastolic and
end-systolic volume (LVEDV, LVESV) and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) using
real-time three-dimensional echocardiography. The 3D-STE parameters of
LV included global longitudinal strain (GLS), global area strain (GAS),
global radial strain (GRS) and global circumferential strain (GCS).
Results In group C, LVEDV and LVESV were significantly
increased (all P<0.05), while LVEF, GLS, GRS, GCS and GAS were
significantly decreased compared with groups A and B (all
P<0.05). In groups A and B, there were no statistical
differences in LVEDV, LVESV and LVEF. However, GLS, GCS and GAS were
lower in group B than in group A (all P<0.05).
Conclusion Our study shows that 3D-STE can evaluate the LV
function in patients with triple vessel coronary artery disease without
myocardial infarction through multiple strain parameters.
AIM Using three-dimensional ultrasound speckle tracking echocardiography
(3D-STE) to evaluate left ventricular (LV) function in patients with
triple vessel coronary artery disease(TVD) without myocardial
infarction. METHODS Sixty patients with TVD without myocardial
infarction were divided into two groups according to the results of
coronary angiography. Group B (n=31):50%≤the stenosis rate of all
triple vessel coronary artery<75%; Group C (n=29):the stenosis rate
of all triple vessel coronary artery≥75%. Thirty healthy subjects were
recruited as the group A. We measured LV end-diastolic and end-systolic
volume (LVEDV, LVESV) and LV ejection fraction (LVEF) using real-time
dynamic three-dimensional echocardiography. The 3D-STE parameters of LV
included global longitudinal strain (GLS), global area strain (GAS),
global radial strain (GRS) and global circumferential strain (GCS). The
correlation between 3D-STE parameters and NT-proBNP were analyzed by
Pearson linear correlation analysis. RESULTS In group C, LVEDV and LVESV
were significantly increased (all P<0.05), while LVEF, GLS, GRS, GCS
and GAS were significantly decreased compared with groups A and B (all
P<0.05). In groups A and B, there were no statistical differences in
LVEDV, LVESV and LVEF. However, GLS, GCS and GAS were lower in group B
than in group A (all P<0.05). The correlation analysis showed a
negative correlation between the absolute values of GLS, GRS, GCS, GAS
and NT-proBNP in group C
(r=-0.866、-0.587、-0.428、-0.600,P<0.001、P=0.001、P=0.020、P=0.010).
CONCLUSIONS Our study shows that 3D-STE can evaluate the LV function in
patients with triple vessel coronary artery disease without myocardial
infarction through multiple strain parameters.
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