Analysis of multimodal ultrasound characteristics of statin-related myopathy in elderly patients with hyperlipidemia / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the characteristics of multimodal ultrasound imaging in elderly hyperlipidemia patients with statin-related myopathy and to provide a reference of new method for non-invasive quantitative evaluation on statin myopathy.Methods:We collected 20 elderly hyperlipidemia patients with statin-related myopathy(the statin-related myopathy group), 20 elderly hyperlipidemia patients without statin-related myopathy after taking statins during the same period(the non-statin-related myopathy group), and 20 healthy volunteers who matched the age and sex of the above two groups during the same period(the healthy control group)in our hospital.Two-dimensional ultrasound, shear wave elastography and superb microvascular imaging were used to obtain thickness, echo, pinnation angle and shear wave velocity(SWV)values as well as vascular index(VI)values of the medial gastrocnemius during relaxation, dorsiflexion, and plantar flexion for each group, which were then analyzed.Results:There were no significant differences among the three groups in general conditions such as age, height, weight, and body mass index(all P>0.05). The mean thickness of the medial gastrocnemius in the statin-related myopathy group was about(1.04 ± 0.20)cm, which was less than(1.34 ± 0.16)cm in the non-statin-related myopathy group and(1.35 ± 0.15)cm in the healthy control group( F=22.03, P<0.001). The pinnation angle in the statin-related myopathy group was about(12.50 ± 1.10), which was less than(18.55 ± 1.28)in the non-statin-related myopathy group and(18.60 ± 1.35)in the healthy control group( F=158.03, P<0.001). Compared with the non-statin-related myopathy group and the healthy control group, SWV during resting, dorsiflexion and plantar flexion in the statin-related myopathy group decreased( F=61.71, 111.96 and 8.69, respectively, P<0.01). The average value of VI in the statin-related myopathy group was about(0.43 ± 0.12)%, which was less than that in the non-statin-related myopathy group(0.75 ± 0.20)% and in the healthy control group(0.93 ± 0.17)%( F=48.93, P<0.001). However, there was no significant difference in values from the parameters between the non-statin-related myopathy group and the healthy control group(all P>0.05). Conclusions:Multimodal ultrasound imaging of statin-related myopathy in elderly hyperlipidemia patients shows distinct characteristics and can be used to evaluate muscle damage of statin-related myopathy.