VALUE OF SHEAR WAVE ELASTOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF GOUTY AND NON-GOUTY ARTHRITIS

Our aim was to analyze the diagnostic performance of shear wave elastography (SWE) in the diagnosis of gouty arthritis (GA) and non-gouty arthritis (non-GA). Thirty-nine patients in the GA group and 55 patients in the non-GA group were included in the study. Based on the echo intensity of the joint lesions, the GA group was subdivided into hypo-echoic GA, slightly hyper-echoic GA and hyper-echoic GA subgroups. Quantitative SWE features were evaluated and receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed. On the basis of the study, the elastic modulus (E-max), mean elastic modulus (E-mean), minimum elastic modulus (E-min) and elastic modulus standard deviation (E-SD) were significantly higher in the GA group than in the non-GA group and were highest in the hyper-echoic GA subgroup (p < 0.01 for all). E-min, E-mean and E-max were significantly higher in the hyper-echoic GA subgroup than in the hypo-echoic GA subgroup and non-GA group (p < 0.001 for all), and E-SD was significantly higher in the hyper-echoic GA subgroup than in the non-GA group (p - 0.001). E-min, E-mean, E-max and E-SD were higher in the hypo-echoic GA subgroup than in the non-GA group, and the differences were significant (p < 0.001 for all). Based on the hypo-echoic GA subgroup and non-GA group, areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the prediction of GA were 0.749 for E-min, 0.877 for E-mean, 0.896 for E-max and 0.886 for E-SD, with optimal cutoff values of 29.40 kPa for E-min, 45.35 kPa for E-mean, 67.54 kPa for E-max and 7.85 kPa for E-SD. Our results indicate that SWE can differentially diagnose GA and non-GA, especially when the ultrasound manifestations are not typical. (C) 2016 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.