title: Virtual Touch Tissue Imaging Quantification Shear Wave Elastography: Prospective Assessment of Cervical Lymph Nodes.
abstract: The goal of this study was to prospectively evaluate the diagnostic performance of Virtual Touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) shear wave elastography in the discrimination of benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes in routine clinical practice. Shear wave velocity was analyzed using VTIQ in 100 patients with 100 histologically proven cervical lymph nodes. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and leave-one-out cross-validation. Agreement between measurements was assessed with intra-class correlation coefficients. The mean shear wave velocity was significantly higher in metastatic lymphadenopathy (4.46 ± 1.46 m/s) than in benign lymphadenopathy (2.71 ± 0.85 m/s) (p < 0.001) at a cutoff level of 3.34 m/s. The cross-validated accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 77%, 78.9% and 74.4%, respectively. Agreement of measurements with VTIQ was excellent (intra-class correlation coefficient = 0.961). VTIQ shear wave elastography may be a feasible quantitative imaging method for differentiating benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea; Department of Medical Imaging, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; School of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kai Lun
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Electronic address: jehee23@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Young Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Woo Hyun
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Baek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006244:Hardness; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008206:Lymphatic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck; D010173:Palpation / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D033081:Shear Strength; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Head and neck; Lymph nodes; Malignant; Shear wave elastography; Ultrasound; Virtual Touch tissue imaging quantification