He Jiawei, Yi Huiming, Tang Dachuan, Zhang Xiaofeng, Cui Xinwu, Zhang Wei
Department of Medical Ultrasound, Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, 230601, China.
Department of Medical Ultrasound, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University Of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430030, China.
BMC Med Imaging. 2025 May 19;25(1):170. doi: 10.1186/s12880-025-01714-0.
The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and clinical value of super-resolution contrast enhanced ultrasound (SR CEUS) in the differential diagnosis of superficial lymph nodes (LNs) and to establish an appropriate imaging protocol.
Patients with enlarged superficial LNs from March to August 2024 were prospectively enrolled. SR CEUS were performed post bolus injection of 0.5 ml and 1.0 ml microbubble contrast agents for 6 s. Microvascular density (MVD), flow weighted density of the vessel (FWVD), perfusion index (PI), fractal dimension (FD), velocity variance (Vel var) and mean velocity (Vmean) were generated from SR CEUS images. The parameters were statistically analyzed to differentiate benign from malignant LNs. The dosage of contrast agent and the duration of image acquisition suitable for diagnosis were explored.
34 malignant and 20 benign LNs were included. Post 0.5 ml injection, the benign LNs showed significantly higher MVD, FWVD, PI and lower Vel var compared with malignant LNs from the 1st to 6th second, and the gap of parameters between benign and malignant LNs increased over time; Post 1.0 ml injection, no significant difference existed between benign and malignant LNs in terms of all parameters.
This study demonstrated the feasibility of using SR CEUS for the differential diagnosis of superficial LNs, with 0.5 ml bolus injection of contrast agent and 6 s acquisition time recommended for clinical practice. Parameters MVD, FWVD, PI & Vel var could serve as imaging markers for clinical evaluation of superficial LNs.
Not applicable.
本研究旨在评估超分辨率对比增强超声（SR CEUS）在浅表淋巴结（LN）鉴别诊断中的可行性和临床价值，并建立合适的成像方案。
前瞻性纳入2024年3月至8月浅表LN肿大的患者。在静脉推注0.5 ml和1.0 ml微泡造影剂后进行6秒的SR CEUS检查。从SR CEUS图像中生成微血管密度（MVD）、血管血流加权密度（FWVD）、灌注指数（PI）、分形维数（FD）、速度方差（Vel var）和平均速度（Vmean）。对这些参数进行统计分析以区分良性和恶性LN。探索适合诊断的造影剂剂量和图像采集持续时间。
纳入34个恶性LN和20个良性LN。注射0.5 ml后，良性LN在第1至6秒的MVD、FWVD、PI显著高于恶性LN，而Vel var则较低，且良性和恶性LN之间的参数差距随时间增加；注射1.0 ml后，良性和恶性LN在所有参数方面均无显著差异。
本研究证明了使用SR CEUS进行浅表LN鉴别诊断的可行性，推荐临床实践中静脉推注0.5 ml造影剂并采集6秒图像。参数MVD、FWVD、PI和Vel var可作为浅表LN临床评估的成像标志物。
不适用。
