Ultra–high‐frequency ultrasound imaging of sural nerve: A comparative study with nerve biopsy in progressive neuropathies

Abstract

Introduction: Nerve ultrasound has been used increasingly in clinical practice as a complementary test for diagnostic assessment of neuropathies, but nerve biopsy remains invaluable in certain cases. The aim of this study was to compare ultra-high-frequency ultrasound (UHF-US) to histologic findings in progressive polyneuropathies. Methods: Ten patients with severe, progressive neuropathies underwent ultrasound evaluation of the sural nerve before nerve biopsy. Ultrasound data were compared with histologic results in a retrospective manner. Results: Sural nerves were easily identified on UHF-US. Nerve hyperechogenicity correlated with inflammatory infiltrates on biopsy. Nerve fascicles could be identified and measured on ultrasound in the majority of patients. Discussion: Hyperechogenicity on UHF-US may be a marker of nerve inflammation in neuropathies. Furthermore, the UHF-US probe allows for evaluation of sensory nerves in spite of their small size, providing valuable information on their size and on their internal structure.

Fully Convolutional Neural Network Deep Learning Model Fully in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Complicated with Peripheral Neuropathy by High-Frequency Ultrasound Image

“…High-frequency ultrasound imaging technology can clearly and intuitively display the nerve distribution and morphology of peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes, which provides very valuable information for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of the disease [ 14 ]. This study subsequently compared the changes in neuromorphology in patients with type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy.…”

“…However, these two tests all required specialist operations and are time-consuming, laborious, and costly, so it is limited in large-scale screening and routine examinations in diabetes clinics [ 11 – 13 ]. Clinical studies have shown that high-frequency ultrasound can clearly display the condition of peripheral nerves and accurately provide information on the course, distribution, echo, and anatomical relationship of surrounding tissues [ 14 ]. In recent years, high-frequency ultrasound has been widely used in the display of normal neural structures, the diagnosis of neuropathy, and the identification of tumors inside and outside the nerves [ 15 , 16 ].…”

Clinical application of ultra‐high frequency ultrasound: Discovering a new imaging frontier

“…Puma et al 43 in a retrospective observational study concluded that hyper‐echogenicity on UHFUS may be a marker of nerve inflammation in neuropathies. Boczar et al 44 presented a case report in which with the use of 70 MHz‐UHFUS they evaluated the nerve invasion of a lipofibromatous hamartoma not available on other imaging modalities.…”

“…Li et al 39 ; Karakawa et al 40 Diagnosis and evaluation of pilomatricoma and aplasia cutis congenita Latham et al 41 Evaluate the vascular accesses in children for cannulation of peripheral arteries and central venous access Regensbruger et al 42 Evaluate nerve structure in congenital neuromuscular disorders Puma et al 43 Peripheral nerve and osteoarticular…”

Nerve Echogenicity in Polyneuropathies of Various Etiologies—Results of a Retrospective Semi-Automatic Analysis of High-Resolution Ultrasound Images

“…According to Härtig et al [ 6 ], hypoechogenic nerves in patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) reflect oedema and demyelination, whereas hyperechogenic nerves represent axonal damage with fibrous-scarring remodeling. In contrast, Puma et al [ 7 ] described increased inflammatory infiltrates in hyperechogenic nerves. Furthermore, echogenicity was described as highly variable even in healthy individuals [ 4 ].…”