RESUMO
PURPOSE: In clinical practice, thyroid nodules are classified according to TI-RADS by B-mode and color-flow Doppler study. The aim of the study is to evaluate the possible added value of Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) and elastosonography in the stratification of malignancy risk of thyroid nodules. METHODS: All patients with thyroid nodules who were candidates for needle aspiration were enrolled. Experienced operators performed a standard examination with TI-RADS calculation, followed by SMI and elastosonography on the nodules. The needle aspiration outcome was used as the gold standard. Statistical analysis calculated the ROC curves of the techniques applied individually and serially. RESULTS: In this prospective study, we analysed 260 nodules, found in 251 patients (mean age 58.6 yo ± 14). 11.2% were TI-RADS 1, 18.9% TI-RADS 2, 41.1% TI-RADS 3, 28.1% TI-RADS 4, and 0.8% TI-RADS 5. The SMI technique showed an AUC of 0.57 (95% CI 0.49; 0.66) while elastosonography had an AUC of 0.58 (95% CI 0.49; 0.67) when used individually. SMI together with elastosonography had AUC of 0.62 (95% CI 0.52; 0.71). TI-RADS had AUC of 0.67 (95% CI 0.59; 0.75). SMI and elastosonography applied together with TI-RADS had AUC of 0.69 (95% CI 0.61; 0.77). CONCLUSION: In the real-world cohort of patients, the SMI technique and elastosonography slightly increase the AUC of TI-RADS. Taken individually, SMI and elastosonography do not have a very strong AUC.
RESUMO
Sarcopenia is a skeletal muscle disorder characterized by reduced muscle mass, strength, and performance. Muscle ultrasound can be helpful in assessing muscle mass, quality, and architecture, and thus possibly useful for diagnosing or screening sarcopenia. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability of ultrasound assessment of tibialis anterior muscle in sarcopenia diagnosis. We included subjects undergoing total or partial hip replacement, comparing measures with a healthy control group. We measured the following parameters: tibialis anterior muscle thickness, echogenicity, architecture, stiffness, skeletal muscle index (SMI), hand grip strength, and sarcopenia related quality of life evaluated through the SarQoL questionnaire. We included 33 participants with a mean age of 54.97 ± 23.91 years. In the study group we found reduced tibialis anterior muscle thickness compared to the healthy control group (19.49 ± 4.92 vs. 28.94 ± 3.63 mm, p < 0.05) with significant correlation with SarQoL values (r = 0.80, p < 0.05), dynamometer hand strength (r = 0.72, p < 0.05) and SMI (r = 0.76, p < 0.05). Moreover, we found reduced stiffness (32.21 ± 12.31 vs. 27.07 ± 8.04 Kpa, p < 0.05). AUC measures of ROC curves were 0.89 predicting reduced muscle strength, and 0.97 predicting reduced SMI for tibialis anterior muscle thickness, while they were 0.73 and 0.85, respectively, for muscle stiffness. Our findings showed that ultrasound assessment of tibialis anterior muscle might be considered a reliable measurement tool to evaluate sarcopenia.