Institute of clinical neurophysiology, Division of neurology, University medical center, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Neurophysiol Clin. 2018 Apr;48(2):119-123. doi: 10.1016/j.neucli.2018.01.001. Epub 2018 Feb 4.
Although ultrasonographic (US) visualization of peripheral nerves is becoming more and more frequently used, there are few studies on its actual contribution to the diagnosis and management of patients with peripheral nerve disorders.
The electronic records of consecutive patients referred to our US laboratory over an eight-month period were retrospectively analyzed. The contribution of US examination to patient management was evaluated.
Two hundred and thirty one consecutive patients (43% men) were analyzed. The US result was pathologic in 71% of patients. US provided a new diagnosis in 3% of patients (including 4 with tumors), contributed other additional information in 60%, and only confirmed the referral diagnosis in 11%. In 26% of patients, US was neither confirmatory nor contributive, nor did it provide a new diagnosis. US sensitivity in electrodiagnostically (EDx) confirmed ulnar neuropathy at the elbow (UNE) was 77% and median neuropathy at the wrist 84%. In EDx negative patients, US sensitivities were 47% and 40%, respectively.
The study demonstrated the ability of peripheral nerve US to provide useful diagnostic information in the majority of adequately referred patients.
尽管超声（US）对外周神经的可视化应用越来越广泛，但关于其对周围神经疾病患者的诊断和治疗的实际贡献的研究却很少。
回顾性分析了在 8 个月期间连续就诊于我们超声实验室的患者的电子病历。评估了 US 检查对患者管理的贡献。
共分析了 231 例连续患者（43%为男性）。71%的患者 US 结果异常。US 为 3%的患者提供了新的诊断（包括 4 例肿瘤），为 60%的患者提供了其他附加信息，仅为 11%的患者确认了转诊诊断。在 26%的患者中，US 既没有提供新的诊断，也没有提供新的诊断，既没有确认也没有提供新的诊断。在电诊断学（EDx）确诊的肘部尺神经病变（UNE）和腕部正中神经病变患者中，US 的灵敏度分别为 77%和 84%。在 EDx 阴性患者中，US 的灵敏度分别为 47%和 40%。
该研究表明，外周神经 US 能够为大多数适当转诊的患者提供有用的诊断信息。
