The role of testicular stiffness derived from shear wave elastography in the assessment of spermatogenesis in men with varicocele
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SUBMITTER: Fu W
PROVIDER: S-EPMC11250289 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Purpose: Shear-wave elastography (SWE) measures tissue elasticity using ultrasound waves. This study proposes a histogram-based SWE analysis to improve breast malignancy detection. Methods: N = 22/32 (patients/tumors) benign and n = 51/64 malignant breast tumors with histological ground truth. Colored SWE heatmaps were adjusted to a 0-180 kPa scale. Normalized, 250-binned RGB histograms were used as image descriptors based on skewness and area under curve (AUC). The histogram method was compared to conventional SWE metrics, such as (1) the qualitative 5-point scale classification and (2) average stiffness (SWEavg)/maximal tumor stiffness (SWEmax) within the tumor B-mode boundaries. Results: The SWEavg and SWEmax did not discriminate malignant lesions in this database, p > 0.05, rank sum test. RGB histograms, however, differed between malignant and benign tumors, p < 0.001, Kolmogorov-Smirnoff test. The AUC analysis of histograms revealed the reduction of soft-tissue components as a significant SWE biomarker (p = 0.03, rank sum). The diagnostic accuracy of the suggested method is still low (Se = 0.30 for Se = 0.90) and a subject for improvement in future studies. Conclusions: Histogram-based SWE quantitation improved the diagnostic accuracy for malignancy compared to conventional average SWE metrics. The sensitivity is a subject for improvement in future studies.
| S-EPMC9777730 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundHamstring stiffness varies among individuals and can influence athletic performance and injury risk. Sex-based differences in hamstring stiffness among football players have not been thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to assess these differences using shear wave elastography (SWE), a non-invasive ultrasound technique that quantifies tissue stiffness.MethodsThe study recruited 30 football players (15 male, 15 female) in June 2022 during their annual medical check-up. Participants were aged 18-40 years, engaged in regular training, and had no history of lower limb musculoskeletal injury in the six weeks preceding the study. SWE was used to measure shear wave velocity (SWV) in the hamstring muscles: semitendinosus (ST), semimembranosus (SM), and biceps femoris (BF). Independent t-tests were used to compare the SWV values of the hamstring muscles between sexes and between dominant and non-dominant legs.ResultsST muscle had a statistically significant difference in SWV based on gender and leg dominance with marked differences particularly in the non-dominant leg across both genders (P=0.02; Bonferroni corrected P=0.05). SWV for ST in male group was significantly higher than that in female group; the mean elasticity of the male group for dominant and non-dominant leg were 3.8±1.5 and 4.1±1.2 m/s, respectively; and the mean elasticity of the female group for dominant and non-dominant leg were 2.9±0.7 and 2.8±0.7 m/s respectively. In contrast, SWV differences in the SM and BF muscles were not statistically significant (P=0.187 and 0.760, respectively).ConclusionsThe study revealed significant sex-based differences in hamstring stiffness among football players, as assessed by SWE. ST muscle stiffness was associated with higher SWV in male group and show stronger correlation with non-dominance leg. These findings can contribute to individualized training programs and injury prevention strategies.
| S-EPMC11558491 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPediatric patients with liver disease require noninvasive monitoring to evaluate the risk of fibrosis progression. This study aimed to identify the significant factors affecting liver stiffness values using two-dimensional shear-wave elastography (2D-SWE), and determine whether liver stiffness can predict the fibrosis stage of various childhood liver diseases.MethodsThis study included 30 children (22 boys and 8 girls; mean age, 5.1 ± 6.1 years; range, 7 days-17.9 years) who had undergone biochemical evaluation, 2D-SWE examination, histopathologic analysis of fibrosis grade (F0 to F3), assessment of necroinflammatory activity, and steatosis grading between August 2016 and March 2020. The liver stiffness from 2D-SWE was compared between fibrosis stages using Kruskal-Wallis analysis. Factors that significantly affected liver stiffness were evaluated using univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses. The diagnostic performance was determined from the area under the receiver operating curve (AUC) values of 2D-SWE liver stiffness.ResultsLiver stiffness at the F0-1, F2, and F3 stages were 7.9, 13.2, and 21.7 kPa, respectively (P < 0.001). Both fibrosis stage and necroinflammatory grade were significantly associated with liver stiffness (P < 0.001 and P = 0.021, respectively). However, in patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels below 200 IU/L, the only factor affecting liver stiffness was fibrosis stage (P = 0.030). The liver stiffness value could distinguish significant fibrosis (≥ F2) with an AUC of 0.950 (cutoff value, 11.3 kPa) and severe fibrosis (F3 stage) with an AUC of 0.924 (cutoff value, 18.1 kPa). The 2D-SWE values for differentiating significant fibrosis were 10.5 kPa (≥ F2) and 18.1 kPa (F3) in patients with ALT levels below 200 IU/L.ConclusionThe liver stiffness values on 2D-SWE can be affected by both fibrosis and necroinflammatory grade and can provide excellent diagnostic performance in evaluating the fibrosis stage in various pediatric liver diseases. However, clinicians should be mindful of potential confounders, such as necroinflammatory activity or transaminase level, when performing 2D-SWE measurements for liver fibrosis staging.
| S-EPMC8040233 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PURPOSE:Shear-wave elastography has been recognized a useful tool for quantifying muscle stiffness, commonly reported as shear modulus, however the reports on reliability are often limited to test-retest correlations. In this study, we explored the reliability of shear-wave elastography for assessment of the trapezius muscle stiffness and its relationship with low-level muscle activity. METHODS:Twenty participants were included in a two-session experiment. Measurements of shear modulus and muscle activity were performed at rest and during low-level activity, induced by shoulder abduction without additional external resistance. RESULTS:Good to excellent intra-session repeatability (ICC > 0.80) and moderate inter-rater and inter-session reproducibility (ICC = 0.66-0.74) were observed. Typical errors were acceptable (7.6% of the mean value) only for intra-session measurements in resting conditions, but not acceptable for all conditions with low-level muscle activity (10.2-16.6% of the mean value). Inverse relationships between shear modulus and muscle activity at 40° and 60° of shoulder abduction (r = -0.53 and -0.57) were observed on a group level. We also found higher shear modulus in males compared to females, for the parallel probe position compared to the perpendicular position (in relation to muscle fiber orientation), and for the dominant side of the body compared to the non-dominant side. CONCLUSIONS:This study showed an inverse relationship between muscle activity in low-level range and shear modulus on a group level, suggesting inherent passive stiffness could account for a larger portion of the variance (compared to muscle activity) in shear modulus when the muscle activity is low. Our results imply that shear-wave elastography can be used in research exploring muscle stiffness, however, caution is needed since only intra-session examination in resting conditions showed acceptable within-participant typical errors. The secondary analyses of the study showed higher shear modulus for males, for the non-dominant side of the body and for the parallel orientation of the ultrasound probe.
| S-EPMC7286494 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PURPOSE:Thymus grows after birth, reaches maximal size after the first few years and involutes by puberty. Because of the postnatal developmental and involutional duration, we aimed toinvestigate normal stiffness values of mediastinal thymus by shear wave elastography (SWE) in different age groups of children and discuss imaging findings of thymus. METHODS:We prospectively examined 146 children (90 girls, 56 boys) who underwent a thyroid or neck ultrasound examination. All subjects underwent ultrasound and SWE evaluation of mediastinal thymus by parasternal and suprasternal approach. We subdivided the subjects based on the ages as 0 to 2 months (group 1), >2 to 6 months (group 2); >6 months to 2 years (group 3), >2 to 5 years (group 4), >5 to 8 years (group 5), and greater than 8 years old (group 6).We investigated differences of mean shear wave elasticity (kPa) and shear wave velocity (m/sec) values among age groups and the association of SWE values with age, body mass index (BMI), height, and weight of the patients. RESULTS:Medians and ranges of age, height, weight, and BMI were 24 (2-84) months, 85 (55-120) cm, 12(4.55-22) kg, 15.37 (13.92-17.51) kg/m2, 11 (2.64-23.15) cc, respectively. Mean shear wave elasticity of thymus when all participants were included was 6.76±1.04 kPa. Differences of mean elasticity values among age groups and also gender groups were not statistically significant. There were highly significant negative correlations among age (r:0.3), height (r:0.26), weight (r:0.3) with elasticity and also velocity values (p<0.001). The thymus elasticity is negatively correlated with age. CONCLUSION:Quantitative evaluation of the thymus by SWE provides normative stiffness values based on age and gender groups. The thymus elasticity decreases with increased age, height and weight.
| S-EPMC7051269 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundSkeletal muscle undergoes structural changes with ageing which may alter its biomechanical properties. Shear wave elastography (SWE) may detect these changes by measuring muscle stiffness.AimsTo investigate muscle stiffness in healthy young, middle-aged and elderly cohorts using SWE and correlate it with muscle strength and mass.MethodsShear wave velocity (SWV) was measured in the quadriceps, hamstrings and biceps brachii of 26 young (range 20-35 years), 21 middle-aged (40-55) and 30 elderly (77-94) volunteers. The participants performed several muscle tests to evaluate their strength. The One-way ANOVA was used to test the muscle stiffness differences between the groups and the Pearson's correlation coefficient to evaluate the relationship between SWV and muscle strength.ResultsThe overall resting muscle SWV gradually decreased with age but was only significantly reduced in the elderly group (p < 0.001); with the exception of the vastus lateralis SWV where a significant difference was noted (p < 0.05) between young (1.77 m/s), middle-aged (1.64 m/s) and elderly (1.48 m/s). The elderly group had on average 16.5% lower muscle stiffness compared to the young. SWV significantly correlated with muscle mass (r = 0.316), walking time (r = - 0.560), number of chair stands (r = 0.522), handgrip strength (r = 0.436) and isokinetic knee strength (r = 0.640). Sex and BMI did not explain any significant variation in SWV.ConclusionsAgeing was associated with a decline in skeletal muscle stiffness which positively correlates with muscle weakness. Further research is needed to evaluate the promising role of SWE as a biomarker for sarcopenia assessment and potential falls risk prediction in elderly individuals.
| S-EPMC6825644 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:The assessment of liver stiffness and the degree of fibrosis are important factors affecting the management strategy. Multiple non-invasive tools are now available to offer an adequate alternative to biopsy. In this study, we tried to compare the performance of 2D shear wave elastography (SWE) to the transient elastography/fibroscan as a non-invasive tool in the prediction of liver stiffness. This is a prospective study of 215 patients confirmed by serology to have positive virus C or B infection. 2D SWE was done followed by vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) known as fibroscan at the same session. Biopsy results were collected. RESULTS:The mean age was 51.07 years ± 6.07 SD. Five cases were excluded due to insufficient data. Fibroscan failed in 30 cases out of 210 cases (failure rate of 14.3%) compared with only 12 patients (6.7% failure rate) while using SWE. Only 180 patients completed the study to the result analysis. SWE results showed significant agreement to the fibroscan results with 86.7% agreement with a tendency for overestimation of the degree of fibrosis (11.7%). The efficacy of SWE was the highest during the assessment of patients with F0 (98.9%), F1 (97.8%), and F4 (93.3%) respectively and relatively low in F2 (92.8%) and F3 (90.6%). CONCLUSION:2D SWE is a relatively recent non-invasive tool in the assessment of liver fibrosis grading which can be used as an alternative to the fibroscan with almost similar diagnostic performance especially when fibroscan is not capable to obtain adequate results such as in obesity and ascites.
| S-EPMC7062958 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe complex structure of the stomatognathic system plays a vital role in chewing, digestion, speaking, breathing, facial expression and swallowing. Its complexity is the primary reason for creating multidisciplinary teams to manage temporomandibular disorders (TMD). We aimed to assess the masseter stiffness in patients undergoing conservative therapy for masticatory muscle disorders and evaluate the efficacy of manual therapy and stabilization occlusal splint in the treatment of masticatory muscle disorders.MethodsThis uncontrolled prospective cohort study included 35 patients with masticatory muscle disorders. The study lasted for eight weeks. The patients were treated with manual therapy and stabilization occlusal splint and evaluated using shear wave elastography of the masseter muscles and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to assess pain, anxiety, quality of sleep, satisfaction with life and perceived stress.ResultsAfter the treatment, the stiffness of both masseter muscles decreased significantly (by 4.21 kPa). The patients reported a significant reduction in pain. At baseline, the median scores ranged from 5 to 8; after treatment, they ranged from 0 to 1 (p < 0.0001). The patients also reported significant improvement in terms of all patient-reported outcome measures. The reduction in stiffness corresponded to the improvement in pain and PROMs, as shown by correlations which were insignificant for all measures.ConclusionsConservative therapy of masticatory muscle disorders involving manual therapy and stabilization occlusal splint is effective. It reduces the masseter stiffness as objectively shown in shear wave elastography and improves subjective PROMs scores, including numerical pain assessment and selected questionnaires. Shear wave elastography has the potential for broad application in clinical practice to monitor masticatory muscle disorders treatment effects due to its objectivity and non-invasive character. Further research is recommended on larger patient populations and longer follow-up.Trial registrationThe study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT03844854 ). First posted date: 19/02/2019.
| S-EPMC9092725 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeThe purpose of this study was to use shear-wave elastography (SWE) to assess testicular stiffness changes during the Valsalva maneuver in adolescents and young adults with varicocele, to compare these changes according to clinical severity, and to evaluate the role of SWE in the diagnosis of varicocele.MethodsThis study included patients undergoing testicular ultrasonography for the diagnosis of varicocele or for post-varicocelectomy follow-up between June 2016 and February 2017. Fifty-four testicles of 27 consecutive patients (mean age, 15.9 years) were classified by clinical grade (grade 0-3). Using SWE, mean testicular stiffness (Emean) was measured at rest and during the Valsalva maneuver. The correlations between multiple ultrasonographic parameters (volume asymmetry, Emean at rest, and absolute and percentage changes in Emean during the Valsalva maneuver) and clinical grade were assessed using the Spearman correlation test.ResultsThe Emean at rest was similar across clinical grades. During the Valsalva maneuver, increased testicular stiffness was frequently observed in patients with grade 2 or 3 varicocele but rarely observed in those with grade 0 or 1 varicocele. The changes in Emean were positively correlated with the clinical grade (all P<0.001), whereas the Emean at rest and volume asymmetry were not (all P>0.05).ConclusionA transient, reversible increase in testicular stiffness during the Valsalva maneuver was observed in adolescents with high-grade varicocele, and the degree of stiffness change was correlated with the clinical grade. Stiffness change identified using SWE during the Valsalva maneuver is a potential surrogate indicator of venous congestion.
| S-EPMC8696133 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeThe goal of this study was to examine changes in testicular stiffness at various intervals after the induction of testicular torsion, as well as to assess the predictive value of testicular stiffness for testicular spermatogenesis after torsion.MethodsSixty healthy male rabbits were randomly assigned to one of three groups: complete testicular torsion, incomplete testicular torsion, or control. All rabbits underwent preoperative and postoperative scrotal ultrasonography, including shear wave elastography (SWE), at predetermined intervals. Changes in SWE values were analyzed and compared using repeatedmeasures analysis of variance. To assess the diagnostic performance of SWE in determining the degree of spermatogenic function impairment, the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were calculated.ResultsSWE measurements in both central and peripheral zones of the testicular parenchyma affected by torsion demonstrated significant negative correlations with spermatogenesis, with coefficients of r=-0.759 (P<0.001) and r=-0.696 (P<0.001), respectively. The AUCs of SWE measurements in the central or peripheral zones of the torsed testicular parenchyma were 0.886 (sensitivity, 83.3%; specificity, 100%) and 0.824 (sensitivity, 83.3%; specificity, 73.3%) for distinguishing between hypospermatogenesis and spermatogenic arrest, respectively (P=0.451, DeLong test).ConclusionVariations in the stiffness of both central and peripheral regions of the testicular parenchyma correlate with the extent and duration of torsion, exhibiting a specific pattern. The "stiff ring sign" is the characteristic SWE finding associated with testicular torsion. SWE appears to aid in the non-invasive determination of the extent of spermatogenic damage in torsed testes.
| S-EPMC10915115 | biostudies-literature