title: Assessment of the Stiffness of Major Salivary Glands in Primary Sjögren's Syndrome through Quantitative Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse Imaging.
abstract: The purpose of the study described here was to evaluate salivary gland stiffness in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) via acoustic radiation force impulse imaging, including Virtual Touch tissue quantification (VTQ) and Virtual Touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ). Twenty-one patients with pSS and 11 healthy patients were included, and the paired parotid and submandibular glands of all of the patients were examined using VTQ and VTIQ. Differences between the two groups were compared with independent and paired t-tests. The VTQ value for the parotid in the pSS group was significantly higher than that obtained for the control group (1.33 ± 0.22 and 1.18 ± 0.04 m/s, respectively, p < 0.01). The VTIQ values for the parotid and submandibular gland were both significantly higher in the pSS group than in the control group (p < 0.05). In the pSS group, a positive correlation was observed between the VTQ and VTIQ results for the parotid and submandibular glands. In summary, the stiffness of the major salivary glands in patients with pSS was increased compared with that of patients with normal glands. This finding indicates that VTQ and VTIQ imaging may be valuable adjuncts to gray-scale ultrasonography for the clinical diagnosis of pSS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China. Electronic address: zhujiaan@pkuph.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jiaan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D055119:Elastic Modulus; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010173:Palpation / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014584:User-Computer Interface
keywords: Acoustic radiation force impulse imaging; Salivary glands; Sjögren's syndrome; Virtual Touch tissue imaging quantification; Virtual Touch tissue quantification