Qualitative and quantitative analysis with a novel shear wave speed imaging for differential diagnosis of breast lesions

Abstract

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of a new two-dimensional shear wave speed (SWS) imaging (i.e. Toshiba shear wave elastography, T-SWE) in differential diagnosis of breast lesions. 225 pathologically confirmed breast lesions in 218 patients were subject to conventional ultrasound and T-SWE examinations. The mean, standard deviation and ratio of SWS values (m/s) and elastic modulus (KPa) on T-SWE were computed. Besides, the 2D elastic images were classified into four color patterns. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve analysis was performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of T-SWE in differentiation of breast lesions. Compared with other quantitative T-SWE parameters, mean value expressed in KPa had the highest AUROC value (AUROC = 0.943), with corresponding cut-off value of 36.1 KPa, sensitivity of 85.1%, specificity of 96.6%, accuracy of 94.2%, PPV of 87.0%, and NPV of 96.1%. The AUROC of qualitative color patterns in this study obtained the best performance (AUROC = 0.957), while the differences were not significant except for that of Eratio expressed in m/s (AUROC = 0.863) (P = 0.03). In summary, qualitative color patterns of T-SWE obtained the best performance in all parameters, while mean stiffness (36.05 KPa) provided the best diagnostic performance in the quantitative parameters.

Shear Wave and Strain Elastographic Features of the Brachial Plexus in Healthy Adults: Reliability of the Findings—a Pilot Study

“…The ICC values for SWE were higher than those for SE in our study. Our findings were comparable with the literature, since the reliability of SE features mostly depends on the experience of radiologists, whereas SWE has less operator dependency . Nevertheless, we found poor to good interobserver agreement for both SWE and SE.…”

“…The elastographic scale was set between 0 and 185 kPa. For the elastic modulus and SWV measurements, images that had smooth and parallel contour lines were used, where the accuracy of data was high . The uncolored region in the measurement box indicated that no shear wave was detected in this area.…”

“…The major limitations of SE are the lack of standardized and reproducible measurements and threshold values, operator dependency, and the need for a reference tissue for strain ratio calculation, which sometimes cannot be possible in diffuse diseases . Shear wave elastography is a less operator‐dependent method and has been developed to overcome these limitations . Shear wave elastography can allow visualization and documentation of absolute stiffness in kilopascals or meters per second objectively without a maneuver .…”

“…Shear wave elastography is a less operator‐dependent method and has been developed to overcome these limitations . Shear wave elastography can allow visualization and documentation of absolute stiffness in kilopascals or meters per second objectively without a maneuver . Sonoelastography of peripheral nerves in patients with trapped neuropathies has been investigated and compared with healthy individuals by using either SWE or SE .…”

“…8,9 Shear wave elastography can allow visualization and documentation of absolute stiffness in kilopascals or meters per second objectively without a maneuver. 8 Sonoelastography of peripheral nerves in patients with trapped neuropathies has been investigated and compared with healthy individuals by using either SWE or SE. [10][11][12][13][14] As far as we know, however, no study on the reliability of sonoelastography of the brachial plexus has been reported in the medical literature in English.…”