Usefulness of shear wave elastography in the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial diseases

Abstract

PurposeTo evaluate the usefulness of shear wave elastography in the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial diseases.Materials and MethodsTen patients with oral and maxillofacial diseases and 28 volunteers drawn from our student doctors were examined by shear wave elastography with a 14-MHz linear transducer using an Aplio 300 apparatus (Canon Medical Systems, Otawara, Japan). A statistical analysis of the shear elastic modulus (kPa) of healthy tissue (the sublingual gland, submandibular gland, anterior belly of the digastric muscle, and geniohyoid muscle) in the 28 volunteers was performed using 1-way repeated measures analysis of variance with the Tukey honest significant difference test. The maximum shear elastic modulus (kPa) of 8 patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and 2 patients with benign lesions was evaluated with the Mann-Whitney U test. The analysis used a 5% significance level.ResultsThe mean shear elastic modulus of the sublingual gland (9.4±3.7 kPa) was lower than that of the geniohyoid muscle (19.2±9.2 kPa, P=.000) and the anterior belly of the digastric muscle (15.3±6.1 kPa, P=.004). The maximum shear elastic modulus of the SCCs (109.6±14.4 kPa) was higher than that of the benign lesions (46.4±26.8 kPa, P=.044).ConclusionOur results demonstrated the usefulness of shear wave elastography in the diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial diseases. Shear wave elastography has the potential to be an effective technique for the objective and quantitative diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial diseases.

Dentists can provide reliable shear wave elastography measurements of the stiffness of masseter muscles: A possible scenario for a faster diagnostic process

“…5 Most studies on SWE do not provide information about the specialty and experience of the examiner 6,7 ; however, many reports on TMD indicate that masseter muscle examinations were performed by radiologists. [8][9][10][11][12][13] Attempts have been made to engage radiologists in the monitoring of the treatment results of other pathologies of the stomatognathic system using SWE, such as bruxism and many other oral and maxillofacial diseases. 12,14 To the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated SWE performed by a dentist.…”

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13] Attempts have been made to engage radiologists in the monitoring of the treatment results of other pathologies of the stomatognathic system using SWE, such as bruxism and many other oral and maxillofacial diseases. 12,14 To the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated SWE performed by a dentist.…”

Shear wave elastography of the submandibular gland in healthy individuals

“…obtained a value of 12.2 kPa and Ogura et al . 1 , 13 obtained values of 12.4 ± 4.2 kPa in men and 13.8 ±5.1 kPa in women. Finally, Kaluzny et al .…”

Intraoral ultrasonography for gingival squamous cell carcinoma: Tumor thickness and bone invasion

“…Panoramic radiographs were obtained with a panoramic machine (Veraviewepocs; J Morita Corp., Kyoto, Japan) using maxillofacial protocol at our hospital, with a tube voltage of 70 kV and a tube current of 10 mA. Grayscale and color Doppler US were performed using a liner 14 MHz transducer (Aplio 300; Canon Medical Systems, Otawara, Japan) by two oral and maxillofacial radiologists, following our institutional protocol 14–16 . Scanning had performed with the patient in the semi‐prone position on dental unit.…”