Apport de l’élastographie en temps réel pour la caractérisation des masses testiculaires

Multiparametric Ultrasound for Focal Testicular Pathology: A Ten-Year Retrospective Review

Conventional ultrasonography (US), including greyscale imaging and colour Doppler US (CDUS), is pivotal for diagnosing scrotal pathologies, but it has limited specificity. Historically, solid focal testicular abnormalities often led to radical orchidectomy. This retrospective study evaluated the utilisation of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and strain elastography (SE) in investigating intratesticular focal abnormalities. A total of 124 cases were analysed. This study underscored the superior diagnostic capabilities of CEUS in detecting vascular enhancement in all malignant cases, even those with undetectable vascularity by CDUS. It also highlighted the potential of CEUS in identifying distinctive vascular patterns in benign vascular tumours. Definitive confirmation of benignity could be obtained when the absence of enhancement was demonstrated on CEUS. While SE alone offered no distinctive advantage in differentiating between benign and malignant pathologies, we demonstrated that incorporating a combination of CEUS and SE into the evaluation of focal testicular abnormalities could improve diagnostic performance metrics over conventional CDUS. Our findings underscore the role of advanced ultrasound techniques in enhancing the evaluation of focal testicular abnormalities in clinical practice and could aid a shift towards testis-sparing management strategies.

Diagnostic role of gray-scale and shear-wave elastography in pediatric patients with undescended testes: a prospective controlled study

Aim

Ultrasound elastography is a simple non-invasive method for measuring tissue elasticity in relation to tissue fibrosis. The aim of this study was to compare echogenicity, volume and shear wave velocities of undescended vs normally descended testes.

Material and methods

Sixty-six boys with undescended testes were included in this study. The median age range was 35.5 (10-118) months old. The cases included in this prospective study consisted of 66 patients with non-operated undescended testes, with 51 of them being affected unilaterally and 15 affected bilaterally, as diagnosed by physical examination. The control group consisted of 31 healthy boys without any particular health problems. This prospective study was performed by gray-scale ultrasonography and shear wave elastography in boys with undescended testes and healthy testes. The testicular volumes were established by ultrasound measurement, the echogenicity and shear wave elastography values were measured in boys with unilateral and bilateral undescended testes, and the results were compared with healthy boys' testes and their contralateral testes. The stiffness values were recorded for speed (m/s) and elasticity (kPa), and the stiffness values of undescended testes were compared with the healthy control group.

Results

Echogenicity values were lower in the bilateral undescended testes group than in the healthy group, and the healthy group's echogenicity was normal (p <0.001). The ROC curve was used to identify a cut-off shear wave elastography value for predicting decreased testicular echogenicity by using average shear wave elastography values. The area under the curve for the undescended testes was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.70-0.85, sensitivity 83.7%, specificity 68.7%, p <0.001), with an average shear wave elastography value of 2.32 (m/s) for above the cut-off point indicates. This was found to be significantly associated with reduced echogenicity on gray-scale ultrasonography, suggesting that it may be correlated with fibrosis developing in patients with undescended testes.

Conclusion

The study provides interesting findings in that it proposes an alternative non-invasive method for the assessment of testicular tissue in undescended testes. We used shear wave elastography to compare the stiffness of normal testes in both heathy patients and in the contralateral healthy testes of boys with undescended testes, with the values obtained for the undescended testes reflecting the level of fibrosis of the parenchyma. Another outcome of this study was observed in patients with unilateral undescended testes, where the normally descended testes showed increased shear wave elastography values, which could be an early indication of parenchymal change.

Evaluation of testicles by sonoelastography in men recovering after Covid-19 disease

INTRODUCTION

Testicular cells, seminiferous tubule cells, spermatogonia, Leydig and Sertoli cells showing angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 expression have the potential to be targets and to be damaged by the coronavirus. We aimed to use Two-Dimensional Shear Wave Elastography (2D-SWE) as an effective technique to identify parenchymal damage in the testicles of patients recovering from COVID-19 infection.

METHODS

35 Male patients (group 1) who recovered after COVID-19 infection between 4 and 12 weeks were included in this prospective study. Before 2D-SWE, these male patients were confirmed with control Rt-PCR test negativity. In addition, the first Rt-PCR test positivity of these patients was confirmed. A control group was formed of 31 healthy subjects (group 2). These two groups were compared in terms of age, volume of each testis, and SWE values. Ultrasound including SWE was applied to all the testes. A total of 9 measurements were taken as 3 SWE measurements from each third of the testis (superior, mid, inferior) and the average of these was calculated. Data obtained in the study were analyzed statistically. A value of p < 0.05 was accepted as statistically significant.

RESULTS

The mean SWE values for the right testis and the left testis were determined to be statistically significantly higher in Group 1 than in Group 2, respectively (p < 0.001, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

There is an increase in testicular stiffness in males who have recovered from COVID-19 infection. The underlying cause of testicular damage is changes at the cellular level. The 2D-SWE technique can predict potential testicular parenchymal damage in male patients recovering from COVID-19 infection.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Two-Dimensional Shear Wave Elastography (2D-SWE) seems to be a promising imaging technique in the evaluation of testis parenchyma.

Sonography in male infertility: a useful yet underutilized diagnostic tool

PURPOSE

To assess the utility of comprehensive sonographic examination including scrotal sonography, Testicular Doppler and Transrectal Ultrasound (TRUS) to evaluate the male reproductive system and differentiate between obstructive (OG) and non-obstructive (NOG) causes of azoospermia.

METHODS

30 infertile men with azoospermia and 30 control subjects with normospermia underwent sonographic evaluation. FNAC/biopsy findings were used for assigning a final diagnosis of obstructive or non-obstructive azoospermia. Qualitative and quantitative imaging parameters were retrospectively compared between the groups using Chi-square/Fisher's exact test and unpaired t-test, respectively. P < 0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS

Ectasia of rete testis/epididymal tubules, altered epididymal echogenicity, dilated terminal vas deferens were significantly more common in OG while inhomogeneous testicular echo-texture and reduced testicular vascularity were more common in NOG (P < 0.05). Testicular volume and epididymal head size were significantly higher in OG than in NOG and controls (18.2 ml/10 mm Vs 8.2 ml/7.2 mm and 13.4 ml/8.8 mm respectively; P < 0.05); while Resistive Index (RI) of intra-testicular vessels was higher in NOG as compared to OG and controls (0.65 vs 0.54 and 0.52 respectively; P < 0.05). On ROC curve analysis, cut-off values of testicular volume (AUC: 0.939; P < 0.001), epididymal head size (AUC: 0.772; P = 0.001) and testicular RI (AUC: 0.761; P = 0.001) to differentiate between the groups were 12.1 ml (sensitivity-94.4%; specificity-83.3%), 9 mm (sensitivity-66.7%; specificity-71%) and 0.62 (sensitivity-62%; specificity-100%) respectively.

CONCLUSION

Comprehensive sonographic evaluation can be used to differentiate obstructive from non-obstructive infertility and should be routinely incorporated in the diagnostic workup of infertile men with azoospermia.

Testicular shear wave elastography in oligo-astheno-teratozoospermic individuals: a prospective case-control study

Purpose

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the testicular stiffness by ultrasound shear wave elastography (SWE) both in men with oligo-astheno-teratozospermia (OAT) and in control group. The secondary objective was to identify a possible correlation between semen quality with testicular stiffness.

Methods

This was a prospective case-control study. We divided the sample in two groups; Group A (case group) included men with OAT, and Group B (control group) men with normal sperm parameters. All participants had at last two semen analysis in the past 180 days (at last 90 days apart), using performed ultrasound and SWE elastography.

Results

We analyzed 100 participants, 50 patients in Group A and 50 controls in Group B. There were statistically significant differences in term of testicular volume and testicular stiffness between two groups. Men with OAT had the testicular stiffness value higher than the controls in both sides (left testicular stiffness 21.4 ± 5.4 kPa vs 9.9 ± 1.6 kPa, p < 0.0001; right testicular stiffness 22.9 ± 4.8 kPa vs 9.5 ± 2.4 kPa, p < 0.0001). Men with abnormal semen parameters showed an inverse correlation between the mean value of testicular stiffness and total sperm count (22.15 ± 3.38 kPa, r = − 0.387, p = 0.005), sperm concentration (22.15 ± 3.38 kPa, r = − 0.244, p = 0.04), and progressive motility (22.15 ± 3.38 kPa, r = − 0.336, p = 0.01), while the correlation was not evident in controls group.

Conclusion

SWE is able to differentiate between testicles with spermatogenic changes from a healthy testicle. For this reason, it could be used to evaluate, in a non-invasive way, the tissue alterations of the organ.

Evaluation of the potential role of shear wave elastography as a promising predictor of sperm retrieval in non-obstructive azoospermic patients: A prospective study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Testicular sperm extraction (TESE) has been a useful diagnostic and therapeutic tool with sperm retrieval opportunity varying according to the pathological finding in azoospermic patients. Sonoelastography (SE) is an exciting radiologic method that can measure relative elasticity of different tissues in a selected region of interest (ROI) by depending on fast cross-correlation technique and a combined autocorrelation method. Real-time elastography (RTE) can be used for structural analysis of testicular tissue to detect pathological tissue alterations. We aimed in the current study to evaluate the efficacy of shear wave elastography (SWE) in predicting sperm retrieval in non-obstructive azoospermic (NOA) patients undergoing TESE.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This prospective study included 50 NOA patients who did two successive semen analyses with normal or elevated gonadotrophic hormones. All participants were subjected to SWE imaging on the testes by a radiologist. The measurements were recorded in terms of kPa using the SWE mode. They were done on each testis in the longest longitudinal plane. SWE images were viewed using dual mode: elasticity mode (kPa) and propagation (arrival time contour) mode then patients underwent TESE.

RESULTS

A significant difference in SWE values was observed between patients with successful sperm retrieval and those with negative sperm retrieval providing 94.7% negative predictive value and 50.0% positive predictive value for sperm retrieval in NOA patients undergoing TESE with 75.0% sensitivity and 85.71% specificity (p  =  0.0001). Mean stiffness index measured by SWE correlated significantly with the histopathological types as 8 patients only were diagnosed as having severe hypospermatogenesis.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

These prime data suggest that SWE as a non-invasive, easily applicable, and repeatable imaging method has a promising potential to be one of the reliable sonographic modalities that can be used as one of the predictors for sperm retrieval in NOA patients.

Shear Wave Elastography versus Strain Elastography in Diagnosing Parathyroid Adenomas

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to compare elastographic means in parathyroid adenomas, using shear wave elastography and strain elastography.

METHODS

This prospective study examined 20 consecutive patients diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism and parathyroid adenoma, confirmed by biochemical assay, technetium-99 sestamibi scintigraphy, and pathology report, after parathyroid surgery. All patients were examined on conventional 2B ultrasound, 2D shear wave elastography, and strain elastography. We determined using 2D shear wave elastography (SWE) the elasticity index (EI) in parathyroid adenoma, thyroid parenchyma, and surrounding muscle and examined using strain elastography the parathyroid adenoma, and determined the strain ratio with the thyroid tissue and muscle tissue.

RESULTS

All patients had positive sestamibi scintigraphy and underwent surgery, with confirmation of parathyroid adenoma in all cases. The mean parathormone (PTH) value before surgery was 153.29 pg/ml (36.5, 464.8) and serum calcium concentration was 10.5 mg/dl (9, 11.5). We compared using 2D-SWE and strain elastography parathyroid adenoma with thyroid tissue and with surrounding muscle. The mean EI measured by SWE in parathyroid adenoma was 4.74 ± 2.74 kPa and in thyroid parenchyma was 11.718 ± 4.206 kPa (mean difference = 6.978 kPa, p < 0.001), and the mean EI value in muscle tissue was 16.362 ± 3.829 kPa (mean difference = 11.622, p < 0.001). Using ROC analysis, we found that an EI below 7 kPa correctly identifies parathyroid tissue. We evaluated parathyroid adenomas using strain elastography by color mapping and strain ratio as a semiquantitative measurement; however, we could not find any statistical correlation comparing the strain ratio obtained from the parathyroid adenoma with the thyroid tissue (p=0.485).

CONCLUSION

Ultrasound elastography is a helpful tool in identifying parathyroid adenomas. A cutoff value below 7 kPa can be used in 2D-SWE. Color maps in strain elastography without adding strain ratio can be used, parathyroid adenoma being identified as score 1 in the Rago criteria.

Experience of using shear wave elastography in evaluation of testicular stiffness in cases of male infertility

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to determine quantitative testicular tissue stiffness values in normal and infertile men using shear wave elastography (SWE), and to evaluate the relationship between infertility and testicular stiffness value.

METHODS

In total, 100 testes of 50 infertile patients with abnormal semen parameters were classified as group A, and 100 testes of 50 control subjects were classified as group B. These two groups were compared in terms of age, testicular volume, and SWE values. The group B testes were randomly chosen from patients who had applied for ultrasonography for any reason, and who had no testis disease and no history of infertility.

RESULTS

The mean age of the patients was 27.83 years, and no significant difference in age was found between the groups (P = 0.133). No significant difference in testicular volume was found between the groups (P = 0.672). The SWE values were significantly higher in group A than in group B (P = 0.000 for both m/s and kPa values). SWE values had a negative correlation with mean testicular volume in group A (for m/s values: P = 0.043; for kPa values: P = 0.024).

CONCLUSION

SWE can be a useful technique for assessing testicular stiffness in infertile patients to predict parenchymal damage in testicular tissue that leads to an abnormality in sperm quantity. In addition, decreased testicular volume, together with increased SWE values, can reflect the degree of parenchymal damage.

[Testicular tumors: A diagnostic challenge of imaging]

OBJECTIVES

Reviewing the characterization and the follow-up imaging of testicular tumors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Literature review (PubMed, Medline) of urological and radiological studies dealing with testicular tumors using keywords: Testicular tumors; Color Doppler ultrasound; US elastography; Magnetic resonance imaging; Contrast enhanced sonography.

RESULTS

Ultrasound remains the basic exam for the tumor characterization. Among the other techniques, MRI, elastography, contrast enhanced ultrasound, although still in evaluation, will be increasingly used in the future. The frequency of benign Leydig cell tumors justifies a testicular preservation approach, through improvement of characterization, monitoring or tumorectomy. The follow-up of testicular lesions must be indicated on precise indications: follow-up of the contralateral testicle in the case of germi cell tumor, follow-up by of a supposed benign lesion, such as a small Leydig cell tumor in an infertile patient, follow-up when ultra-sound findings are not sufficiently worrying to require immediate diagnosis but which include pejorative criteria. The tumor markers and the extension screening remain systematic.

CONCLUSION

The era of total orchiectomy for any uncertain testicular lesion is over. We try the challenge of characterization, and define management's algorithms based on clinical biological data and suspected nature of the tumor at imaging.

Elastography of focal testicular lesions: current concepts and utility

As a relatively new sonographic technique, tissue elastography has emerged as a qualitative and potentially quantitative adjunctive tool to provide additional information on tissue stiffness, aiming to further improve diagnostic confidence in discriminating benign from malignant focal testicular lesions. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the elastography techniques used to assess focal testicular lesions and their typical appearance on tissue elastography.

Evaluation of Intratesticular Lesions With Strain Elastography Using Strain Ratio and Color Map Visual Grading: Differentiation of Neoplastic and Nonneoplastic Lesions

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the role of strain elastography using calculated strain ratio and visual elastography score in differentiating nonneoplastic, benign, and malignant neoplastic intratesticular lesions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was approved by the hospital review board as a retrospective review of 86 patients examined with gray scale, color Doppler ultrasonography and strain elastography (visual elastography score and strain ratio). Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratio of color Doppler and stain elastography were documented. Receiver operator characteristic curves assessed the diagnostic accuracy of strain elastography to discriminate nonneoplastic, benign, and malignant neoplasms. Histology or follow-up ultrasonography determined lesion character.

RESULTS

Thirty-one of 86 (36.0%) intratesticular malignant neoplasms, 17 of 86 (19.8%) benign neoplasms, and 38 of 86 (44.2%) nonneoplastic lesions were confirmed with histology (n = 52) or follow-up sonography (n = 34); 89.5% of intratesticular lesions were heterogeneous or hypoechoic on gray scale, with no difference between benign and malignant. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratio for nonneoplasm versus neoplasm were documented: color Doppler: 68.8%, 97.4%, 26.5, 0.32; visual elastography score: 81.3%, 57.9%, 1.93, 0.32; strain ratio: 68.8%, 81.6%, 3.73, 0.38. Neoplastic lesions showed a higher strain ratio than nonneoplastic lesions (P < .001), with strong correlation between median strain ratio and visual elastography score (Spearman's coefficient, 0.693; P < .001). Strain ratio is a significantly better assessment than visual elastography score for malignant lesions (P = .025). Logistic regression analysis revealed significant associations between size (P = .001), hypervascularity (P < .001), and malignancy.

CONCLUSION

Higher strain ratio and visual elastography score are associated with neoplastic lesions and offer an alternative to assess tissue characteristics but do not improve the diagnostic accuracy when compared with the color Doppler pattern.

Diagnostic value of qualitative and strain ratio elastography in the differential diagnosis of non-palpable testicular lesions

The purpose of this study was to evaluate prospectively the accuracy of qualitative and strain ratio elastography (SE) in the differential diagnosis of non‐palpable testicular lesions. The local review board approved the protocol and all patients gave their consent. One hundred and six patients with non‐palpable testicular lesions were consecutively enrolled. Baseline ultrasonography (US) and SE were correlated with clinical and histological features and ROC curves developed for diagnostic accuracy. The non‐palpable lesions were all ≤1.5 cm; 37/106 (34.9%) were malignant, 38 (35.9%) were benign, and 31 (29.2%) were non‐neoplastic. Independent risk factors for malignancy were as follows: size (OR 17.788; p = 0.002), microlithiasis (OR 17.673, p < 0.001), intralesional vascularization (OR 9.207, p = 0.006), and hypoechogenicity (OR, 11.509, p = 0.036). Baseline US had 89.2% sensitivity (95% CI 74.6–97.0) and 85.5% specificity (95% CI 75.0–92.8) in identifying malignancies, and 94.6% sensitivity (95% CI 86.9–98.5) and 87.1% specificity (95% CI 70.2–96.4) in discriminating neoplasms from non‐neoplastic lesions. An elasticity score (ES) of 3 out of 3 (ES3, maximum hardness) was recorded in 30/37 (81.1%) malignant lesions (p < 0.001). An intermediate score of 2 (ES2) was recorded in 19/38 (36.8%) benign neoplastic lesions and in 22/31 (71%) non‐neoplastic lesions (p = 0.005 and p = 0.001 vs. malignancies). None of the non‐neoplastic lesions scored ES3. Logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between ES3 and malignancy (χ² = 42.212, p < 0.001). ES1 and ES2 were predictors of benignity (p < 0.01). Overall, SE was 81.8% sensitive (95% CI 64.8–92.0) and 79.1% specific (95% CI 68.3–88.4) in identifying malignancies, and 58.6% sensitive (95% CI 46.7–69.9) and 100% specific (95% CI 88.8–100) in discriminating non‐neoplastic lesions. Strain ratio measurement did not improve the accuracy of qualitative elastography. Strain ratio measurement offers no improvement over elastographic qualitative assessment of testicular lesions; testicular SE may support conventional US in identifying non‐neoplastic lesions when findings are controversial, but its added value in clinical practice remains to be proven.

Real-Time Elastography and Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography in the Evaluation of Testicular Masses: A Comparative Prospective Study

This study investigates the usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and real-time elastography (RTE) for the characterization of testicular masses by comparing pre-operative ultrasound findings with post-operative histology. Sixty-seven patients with 68 sonographically detected testicular masses underwent B-mode, color-coded Doppler sonography (CCDS), CEUS and RTE according to defined criteria. For RTE, elasticity score (ES), difference of elasticity score (D-ES), strain ratio (SR) and size quotient (Qsize) were evaluated. Histopathologically, 54/68 testicular lesions were neoplastic (47 malignant, 7 benign). Descriptive statistics revealed the following results (neoplastic vs. non-neoplastic) for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy, respectively: B-mode, 100%, 43%, 87%, 100%, 88%; CCDS 81%, 86%, 96%, 55%, 82%; CEUS 93%, 85%, 96%, 73%, 91%; ES 98%, 25%, 85%, 75%, 85%; D-ES 98%, 50%, 90%, 83%, 89%; SR 90%, 45%, 86%, 56%, 81%; and Qsize 57%, 83%, 94%, 28%, 61%. B-mode with CCDS remains the standard for assessing testicular masses. In characterization of testicular lesions, CEUS clearly outperformed all other modalities. Our study does not support the routine use of RTE in testicular ultrasonography because of its low specificity.