Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study was to validate the reliability of quantitative intraneural enhancement patterns by using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS).
Methods
Nine asymptomatic wrists underwent a total of three CEUS examinations each conducted at 1-month intervals. The CEUS enhancement pattern of median nerves was quantitatively evaluated. The area under the time–intensity curve was calculated by placing the regions of interest at the proximal, center, and distal regions of the median nerve. An intra-class correlation coefficient for intra-observer, inter-observer, and inter-examination reproducibility was calculated.
Results
The intra- and inter-observer reproducibility was almost perfect. Inter-examination reproducibility of the proximal, center, and distal regions was 0.891, 0.614, and 0.535, respectively. In this study, we found that the reproducibility of the distal and center regions of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel was lower than that of the proximal region.
Conclusion
High intra-observer, inter-observer, and inter-examination reproducibility of CEUS was obtained in the evaluation of the intraneural enhancement pattern when the region of interest was placed in the proximal region of the median nerve.
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Acknowledgments
The authors thank Mr. Hiroyuki Okuhara, Mr. Masashi Yamamoto, Mr. Nozomu Murakami, and Ms. Tomoka Kawaguchi for the acquisition and analysis of electrophysiological data.
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None.
Human rights statements and informed consent
All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
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Ishizaka, K., Nishida, M., Motomiya, M. et al. Reliability of peripheral intraneural microhemodynamics evaluation by using contrast-enhanced ultrasonography. J Med Ultrasonics 41, 481–486 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-014-0533-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-014-0533-0