title: Combination of Salivary Gland Ultrasonography and Virtual Touch Quantification for Diagnosis of Sjögren's Syndrome: A Preliminary Study.
abstract: A total of 136 subjects (51 SS patients, 35 sicca syndrome patients without SS, and 50 healthy volunteers) were enrolled in this study. The mean SWV value for salivary glands of SS patients was statistically higher than that of controls (2.81 ± 0.66 m/s versus 1.85 ± 0.28 m/s for parotid glands and 2.29 ± 0.34 m/s versus 1.82 ± 0.25 m/s for submandibular glands, resp.). Combining SWV values of parotid and submandibular glands gives a sensitivity of 88.2% (95% CI: 76.1-95.6%) and specificity of 96.0% (95% CI: 86.3-99.5%) at the cutoff point of 2.19 m/s, with an AUROC of 0.954 (95% CI: 0.893-0.986). In addition, combining SGUS score and SWV value yields a sensitivity of 98.0% (95% CI: 89.6-100%), specificity of 90.0% (95% CI: 78.2-96.7%), and AUROC of 0.962 (95% CI: 0.904-0.990). Classification tree considering the sequential use of SGUS score and SWV value achieved 92.1% accuracy for diagnosis of SS. Similarly, the ROC curve of combined SGUS scores and SWV values yields an AUROC of 0.954 (95% CI: 0.885-0.987), sensitivity of 97.1% (95% CI: 85.1-99.9%), and specificity of 92.2% (95% CI: 81.1-97.8%) for separating sicca syndrome patients (without SS) from SS patients. Combining SGUS and VTQ provides a promising tool for diagnosis of SS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Shaoqi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Shantou Central Hospital, Shantou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Yukai
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2468-3208
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Guohong
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3856-3111
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Shigao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D013363:Submandibular Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*