Department of Translational Research and of New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, University Hospital of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2020 Apr;129(4):401-410. doi: 10.1016/j.oooo.2019.09.012. Epub 2019 Sep 26.
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of ultra-high frequency ultrasound (UHFUS) imaging of intraoral soft tissue lesions.
The study included 160 patients presenting with oral soft tissue lesions classified into 4 categories: autoimmune diseases, mucosal growths, potentially (pre)malignant lesions, and oral cancer. Each lesion was evaluated by means of intraoral UHFUS, through B-mode and C-mode acquisitions of the area of interest. The UHFUS findings were compared with the histopathologic findings.
All values for sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value exceeded 90%. Sensitivity was perfect (100%) for mucosal growths and oral cancer. Specificity was almost perfect for all 4 categories of lesions, ranging from 97% to 99%. Values for positive predictive value ranged from 83% to 99%.
UHFUS was beneficial in imaging the oral mucosa and the superficial aspects of the underlying soft tissue in detail because of the high spatial resolution of the technique. Consistent patterns were recognized for different categories of lesions. UHFUS holds the promise of being a valuable support to the clinician in terms of diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of oral lesions.
本研究旨在评估口腔软组织病变的超高频率超声（UHFUS）成像的诊断效能。
本研究纳入了 160 名患有口腔软组织病变的患者，这些病变分为 4 类：自身免疫性疾病、黏膜生长物、潜在（前）恶性病变和口腔癌。通过对感兴趣区域进行 B 模式和 C 模式采集，对每个病变均采用口腔内 UHFUS 进行评估。将 UHFUS 结果与组织病理学结果进行比较。
所有的敏感度、特异度和阴性预测值均超过 90%。黏膜生长物和口腔癌的敏感度为 100%（完全准确）。所有 4 类病变的特异度接近完美，范围为 97%至 99%。阳性预测值的范围为 83%至 99%。
由于该技术具有较高的空间分辨率，UHFUS 可详细地对口腔黏膜和深层软组织的浅层进行成像，具有优势。不同类别的病变可识别出一致的模式。UHFUS 有望成为临床医生在口腔病变的诊断、治疗和随访方面的有价值的辅助手段。
