Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumchi, Xinjiang, China , pznjiafang@163.com
Abstract: (10 Views)
Background:To investigate the diagnostic efficacy of shear wave elastography (SWE) and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in differentiating between metastatic and tuberculous cervical lymphadenopathy. Materials and Methods: This study included 84 patients with 91 cervical lymph nodes (LNs) that exhibited suspicious malignant features on ultrasonography (US). SWE and CEUS were sequentially performed, followed by analysis of two-dimensional SWE (2D-SWE) characteristics, maximum shear wave elastic modulus (Max-SWE), and CEUS parameters. Cervical lymphadenopathy was categorized as metastatic or tuberculous based on histopathological diagnosis. Diagnostic performance parameters including sensitivity (Se), specificity (Sp), accuracy (Acc), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) of conventional US, SWE, and CEUS were compared. Results: Conventional US findings showed no significant differences between the groups (P > 0.05), whereas 2D-SWE, Max-SWE, and CEUS demonstrated significant differences (all P < 0.05). CEUS, 2D-SWE, and Max-SWE demonstrated AUC values of 0.762, 0.643, and 0.605, respectively. 2D-SWE exhibited the highest specificity (Sp, 71.4%), whereas CEUS achieved superior sensitivity (Se, 81.6%) and accuracy (Acc, 75.8%). Conclusion: CEUS and SWE complement each other in differentiating metastatic lymphadenopathy from tuberculous nodes.