Comparison of superb microvascular imaging (SMI) quantified with ImageJ to quantified contrast-enhanced ultrasound (qCEUS) in liver metastases—a pilot study

Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery

article

Wolfgang Kratzer¹  Melanie Güthle¹  Felix Dobler¹  Thomas Seufferlein¹  Tilmann Graeter²  Julian Schmidberger¹  Thomas FE Barth³  Jochen Klaus¹ 

[1] Department of Internal Medicine I , University Hospital Ulm;Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology , University Hospital Ulm;Institute of Pathology , University Hospital Ulm

关键词: Liver;    metastasis;    Doppler ultrasound;    computer-assisted image analyses;    contrast-enhanced ultrasound;   

DOI  :  10.21037/qims-21-383

学科分类：外科医学

来源: AME Publications

【 摘 要 】

Background: The aim of the study was to compare methods for the assessment of vascularisation of liver metastases (LM) between superb microvascular imaging (SMI), contrast-enhanced ultrasound, and microvascular density (MVD). Methods: SMI results were quantified as the vascularisation quotient (VQ), based on a grey-scale analysis with ImageJ image software. Those results were compared to contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) values, calculated with VueBox®. MVD was measured with an anti-CD34 antibody. Results: This study included 13 patients with LM. The VQ showed a strong correlation with the quantified parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasound. The parameters of quantified contrast-enhanced ultrasound compared with quantified SMI showed the following statistical correlations: peak enhancement (PE), in arbitrary unit (a.u.) (r=0.72104, P=0.0054), PE in Decibel (dB) (r=0.65918, P=0.00141), Wash-in- Area Under the Curve (WiAUC) in a.u. (r=0.63604, P=0.00194), Wash-in Perfusion-Index (WiPI) in a.u. (r=0.73337, P=0.0043), Wash-in Perfusion-Index (WiPI) in dB (r=0.65642, P=0.0194), Wash-in-Rate (WiR) in a.u. (r=0.7304, P=0.0036) and Wash-in-Rate (WiR) in dB (r=0.82897, P=0.0005). Conclusions: Comparison of the two methods, SMI and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), for quantitative assessment of vascularisation of LM showed good correlation. The contrast-independent Doppler technique SMI can qualitatively assess the vascularisation of LM.

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