Rabello Lucas Maciel, Dams Olivier Christian, van den Akker-Scheek Inge, Zwerver Johannes, O'Neill Seth
Departments of Sports and Exercise Medicine; and.
Orthopedics, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands ; and.
Clin J Sport Med. 2021 May 1;31(3):e161-e175. doi: 10.1097/JSM.0000000000000749.
To determine the role of ultrasound tissue characterization (UTC) in predicting, diagnosing, and monitoring tendon structure and/or tendinopathy. In addition, this study aims to provide recommendations for standardized methodology of UTC administration and analysis.
The PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched (up to September 2018). All scientific literature concerning the use of UTC in assessing tendons was collected. The initial search resulted in a total of 1972 hits, and after screening by eligibility criteria, 27 articles were included.
In total, 18 investigating the Achilles tendon, 5 the patellar tendon, and 4 both Achilles and patellar tendons were included. The methods of UTC administration and analysis differed and were not uniform. The studies showed that the use of UTC to predict Achilles tendinopathy (AT) is inconclusive, but that a higher amount of tendon disorganization increases the risk of developing patellar tendinopathy (PT). In terms of diagnosis, UTC might provide additional information in AT cases. In addition, promising results were found for the use of UTC in both AT and PT in monitoring the effect of load or treatment on tendon structure.
More research regarding the use of UTC in predicting tendon pathology is required. Ultrasound tissue characterization seems useful as an adjunct diagnostic modality because it can be used to differentiate symptomatic from asymptomatic tendons. In addition, UTC is a promising device to be used to monitor changes in tendon structure in response to load or treatment. Moreover, we provide recommendations of a standardized protocol concerning the methods of UTC measurement and analysis.
确定超声组织特征分析（UTC）在预测、诊断和监测肌腱结构及/或肌腱病中的作用。此外，本研究旨在为UTC管理和分析的标准化方法提供建议。
检索了PubMed、Embase和Web of Science数据库（截至2018年9月）。收集了所有关于使用UTC评估肌腱的科学文献。初步检索共得到1972条结果，经纳入标准筛选后，纳入了27篇文章。
总共纳入了18项研究跟腱的、5项研究髌腱的以及4项同时研究跟腱和髌腱的。UTC的管理和分析方法各不相同，且不统一。研究表明，使用UTC预测跟腱病（AT）尚无定论，但肌腱结构紊乱程度越高，发生髌腱病（PT）的风险越高。在诊断方面，UTC可能为AT病例提供额外信息。此外，在监测负荷或治疗对肌腱结构的影响方面，UTC在AT和PT中的应用均取得了有前景的结果。
需要更多关于使用UTC预测肌腱病变的研究。超声组织特征分析似乎可作为一种辅助诊断方式，因为它可用于区分有症状和无症状的肌腱。此外，UTC是一种有前景的用于监测肌腱结构因负荷或治疗而发生变化的设备。而且，我们提供了关于UTC测量和分析方法的标准化方案的建议。
