Cebula Agnieszka, Cebula Maciej, Kopyta Ilona
Department of Paediatric Neurology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Medykow Str 16, 40-752 Katowice, Poland.
Department of Radiodiagnostics, Invasive Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Medykow Str 14, 40-752 Katowice, Poland.
Children (Basel). 2021 Nov 12;8(11):1042. doi: 10.3390/children8111042.
Ultrasonographic elastography is a relatively new imaging modality for the qualitative and quantitative assessments of tissue elasticity. While it has steadily gained use in adult clinical practice, including for liver diseases, breast cancer, thyroid pathologies, and muscle and tendon diseases, data on its paediatric application is still limited. Moreover, diagnosis of muscular diseases in children remains challenging. The gold standard methods, namely biopsy, electroneurography, and electromyography, are often limited owing to their invasive characteristics, possible contraindications, complications, and need for good cooperation, that is, a patient's ability to perform certain tasks during the examination while withstanding discomfort, which is a significant problem especially in younger or uncooperative children. Genetic testing, which has broad diagnostic possibilities, often entails a high cost, which limits its application. Thus, a non-invasive, objective, repeatable, and accessible tool is needed to aid in both the diagnosis and monitoring of muscle pathologies. We believe that elastography may prove to be such a method. The aim of this review was to present the current knowledge on the use of muscle elastography in the paediatric population and information on the limitations of elastography in relation to examination protocols and factors for consideration in everyday practice and future studies.
超声弹性成像术是一种相对较新的成像方式，用于对组织弹性进行定性和定量评估。虽然它在成人临床实践中，包括在肝脏疾病、乳腺癌、甲状腺疾病以及肌肉和肌腱疾病的诊断中得到了越来越广泛的应用，但关于其在儿科应用的数据仍然有限。此外，儿童肌肉疾病的诊断仍然具有挑战性。金标准方法，即活检、神经电图和肌电图，由于其侵入性、可能的禁忌症、并发症以及需要患者良好配合（即患者在检查过程中执行某些任务并忍受不适的能力），往往受到限制，这在年幼或不合作的儿童中是一个重大问题。具有广泛诊断可能性的基因检测通常成本高昂，这限制了其应用。因此，需要一种非侵入性、客观、可重复且易于使用的工具来辅助肌肉疾病的诊断和监测。我们认为弹性成像术可能就是这样一种方法。本综述的目的是介绍目前关于肌肉弹性成像术在儿科人群中的应用知识，以及关于弹性成像术在检查方案方面的局限性以及日常实践和未来研究中需要考虑的因素的信息。
