Evaluation of the Clinical Effectiveness of Shear Wave Elastography in Pediatric Cases With Acute Appendicitis

To determine sensitivity and specificity of shear wave elastography in pediatric patients diagnosed with acute inflammation of the appendix. Forty-eight patients who were referred for abdominal pain, with 18 volunteers recruited for the evaluation. Alvarado scores were calculated on the patients. The elasticity and stiffness of the inflamed appendix tissues of patients and controls were measured using shear wave elastography. The anterior, posterior, and medial parts of the appendix tissue were measured, calculating the highest elasticity values in kPa. In the end, 32 patients with Alvarado scores between 7 and 9 (group 1) underwent surgery, whereas 3 of them had pathological specimens reporting as normal. Eight of the patients whose Alvarado scores were between 4 and 6 and had inflammatory conditions of the appendix (group 2), plus the control group totaled 16 patients (group 3). The median shear wave value was found to be significantly higher in group 1 (14.7 kPa) than in either group 2 (12.7 kPa) or group 3 (9.3 kPa) (P
Source: Ultrasound Quarterly - Category: Radiology Tags: Original Research Source Type: research