Ultrasound International Open最新文献

Purpose Conventional pediatric echocardiography is crucial for diagnosing congenital heart disease (CHD), but the technique is impaired by angle dependency. Vector flow imaging (VFI) is an angle-independent noninvasive ultrasound alternative for blood flow assessment and can assess complex flow patterns not visible on conventional Doppler ultrasound. Materials and Methods 12 healthy newborns and 3 infants with CHD were examined with transthoracic cardiac VFI using a conventional ultrasound scanner and a linear array. Results VFI examinations revealed common cardiac flow patterns among the healthy newborns, and flow changes among the infants with CHD not previously reported with conventional echocardiography. Conclusion For assessment of cardiac flow in the normal and diseased pediatric heart, VFI may provide additional information compared to conventional echocardiography and become a useful diagnostic tool.

Purpose: Delayed gastric emptying is present in patients with functional dyspepsia (FD), diabetes mellitus, and neurological diseases. Diet may affect gastric emptying symptoms in patients with FD. We sought to determine the extent to which gastric emptying and symptoms of dyspepsia are influenced by caloric content in healthy subjects using ultrasonography.

Materials and methods: 32 healthy volunteers were given 2 meals with different caloric content in random order. Gastric emptying was determined using ultrasonography to measure antral area when fasting, and postprandially at intervals of 0, 10, 20, and 30 min. Dyspeptic symptoms including discomfort, nausea, and fullness were graded.

Results: The antral area following a high-caloric meal compared to a low-caloric meal was significantly increased at 0, 10, 20, and 30 min (P=0.0203,<0.0001<0.0001,<0.0001, respectively), as was the median fullness (P<0.0048, 0.0001, 0.0009, 0.0001, respectively) measured at the same time points. There was a weak correlation (r2=0.1, P<0.0001) between the antral area and subjective fullness. No differences between gastric emptying in males and females were found.

Conclusion: The caloric content of a meal influences gastric emptying. Using ultrasonography to measure the antral area helps us to assess gastric emptying and therefore to assess patients with functional dyspepsia.

Purpose: This study aimed to clarify the sonographic features of suture granuloma and recurrent carcinoma newly detected after thyroidectomy.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed ultrasound reports with images of 25 cases of suture granuloma and 18 cases of recurrent carcinoma that newly appeared in the resected area after thyroidectomy in our institution.

Results: Both suture granulomas and recurrent carcinomas more frequently exhibited multiple lesions rather than solitary lesions. Suture granulomas tended to appear in the more superficial areas than the carotid artery, while recurrent carcinomas were more common between the trachea and carotid artery. A total of 10 of the 11 suture granulomas that we followed up decreased in size. Recurrent carcinomas showed irregular shape (55.6%), taller-than-wide shape (38.9%), low internal echogenicity (83.3%), and no punctate microcalcifications. By contrast, suture granulomas were fusiform in shape (56.0%) and showed linear internal echo parallel to the tissue plane on the longitudinal scan (64.0%). The vascular flow sign was mild to none in the majority of both lesions.

Conclusion: Fusiform shape and linear internal echoes indicate suture granuloma, while irregular shape, taller-than-wide shape, and low echogenicity indicate recurrent carcinoma. Given that the clinical management of suture granuloma differs from that of recurrent carcinoma, it is important to distinguish between these two lesions.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the ultrasound characteristics and clinical significance of slightly hyperechoic lesions, referred to as phantom nodules, in the perithyroidal area in patients.

Materials and methods: A total of 128 patients who underwent thyroidectomy with central neck lymph node dissection at Kuma Hospital in Hyogo, Japan were included in the study. We detected 16 phantom nodules during preoperative ultrasound examinations, defined as slightly hyperechoic masses located in the perithyroidal areas, in 13 of these 128 patients (10.2%; mean age: 55.6 years, range: 36-75 years).

Results: All phantom nodules were located in the caudal region of the thyroid gland, and the mean maximum dimension was 7.2 mm. 12 of the 16 nodules were round or oval, while the remaining 4 were fusiform and molded by the surrounding tissue. All nodules were well-defined, solid, homogeneous, hyperechoic masses. No speckled echo pattern, internal linear echo, or vascular flow signal was observed. All 4 nodules subjected to histological examination were composed of ectopic thymic tissue. In 2 of these 4, the parenchyma was severely involuted and almost entirely replaced by adipose tissue.

Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report wherein some of the detected hyperechoic perithyroidal masses were composed of ectopic thymic tissue, and some were primarily composed of adipose tissue that completely replaced involuted ectopic thymic tissue. The results of the study suggest that these so-called phantom nodules are clinically insignificant and do not require fine needle aspiration cytology or further investigation.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to estimate the risk of malignant thyroid nodules being interpreted as benign based on ultrasound findings and to clarify the pathological features of these malignant nodules.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively re-evaluated ultrasound and pathological findings for 162 malignant thyroid nodules that were initially interpreted as benign based on ultrasound findings at Kuma Hospital between April 2012 and June 2015.

Results: The incidences of malignancy among "benign" thyroid nodules were 0.5% overall and 6.2% among resected nodules. In addition, 82.7% of thyroid nodules that were originally judged to have low or very low suspicion patterns were subsequently re-categorized as having high or intermediate suspicion patterns. The incidences of irregular margins (63.6%) and low echogenicity (36.4%) were higher than those of punctate microcalcification (17.9%) and the taller-than-wide shape (20.4%). Among microcarcinomas, the incidences were 65.7% for irregular margins and 51.4% for low echogenicity. Rim calcification with small extrusive soft tissue components and extrathyroidal extensions were not observed. After re-evaluation, 40.0% of papillary thyroid carcinomas remained benign based on their variants, such as the encapsulated, follicular, macrofollicular, and oxyphilic cell variants.

Conclusion: We conclude that more careful observation, especially for lesions with irregular margins and low echogenicity, can help improve the diagnostic accuracy of thyroid ultrasonography. Furthermore, greater care may decrease the incidence of malignancy among thyroid nodules with low or very low suspicion patterns. Some variants of papillary thyroid carcinoma can have benign ultrasound findings.

Objective: Diagnosing cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) continues to remain challenging in outpatient practice. In this study, we investigate whether a newly developed venous velocity ultrasound index (VVI) can differentiate between patients with CRS and patients with CKD of other cause or normal renal function (NRF).

Methods: Patients with CRS (n = 30), CKD (n=30), and NRF (n=30) were included in the study. For each patient, duplex ultrasound scans of intrarenal segmental veins were retrospectively analyzed. The VVI was calculated from the renal venous doppler curve as the ratio of the maximal positive venous velocity to the maximal negative venous velocity. Patients with CRS were compared to age-matched controls with NRF and to GFR-matched controls with CKD.

Results: The GFRs of patients with CRS and those with CKD were comparable (26.4±5 and 25.6±7 ml/min/m2), as was the age in patients with CRS and NRF (6 ±12 years and 68±16 years, respectively). There was no significant difference in ejection fraction between patients with CRS and those with CKD (44.2±6.2% vs. 47.4 ±7.2), but there was a significant decrease compared to those with NRF (52.6 ±5.1, p<0.01). The VVI was significantly higher in the CRS group (0.81± 0.18) compared to the CKD group (0.18± 0.17, p<0.01) or NRF group (0.22± 0.20, p<0.01). The positive predictability of CRS was 96.4% in patients with VVI values of >0.6.

Conclusion: The newly developed VVI was useful in successfully predicting severe diastolic dysfunction (CRS) in patients with severe kidney injury in outpatient care.

It is with great pleasure again that I introduce the December 2018 issue of Ultrasound International Open. This issue has a focus on Neck ultrasound where the first article highlights the value of careful sonographic observations of thyroid nodules which will improve diagnostic accuracy and help select suspicious nodules for histological sampling. The article also provides many examples and highlights some helpful tips.