Work

Ultrasound elastography for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Preoperative distinguishing between benign and malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) poses a challenge. Ultrasound elastography has emerged as a promising diagnostic tool; however, further investigation is needed to assess its diagnostic accuracy in evaluating GISTs. AIM: To evaluate the accuracy of ultrasound elastography for differentiating between benign and malignant GISTs. METHODS: This prospective study included 110 patients with 103 histopathologically confirmed GISTs between January 2021 and December 2023. All tumors underwent conventional ultrasound examination, strain elastography (SE), and shear-wave elastography (SWE) before surgical resection. The study evaluated elastographic parameters such as strain ratio, elastographic patterns, mean elastic modulus, and heterogeneity index. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, with histopathological diagnosis as the reference standard. RESULTS: < 0.001) than benign tumors. The optimal cutoff values were 3.45 for the strain ratio (sensitivity: 84.5%, specificity: 86.7%) and 32.5 kPa for the mean elastic modulus (sensitivity: 87.9%, specificity: 88.9%). The areas under the curve were 0.892 and 0.918, respectively. Interobserver agreement was excellent for both SE [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.88] and SWE (ICC range: 0.85-0.93) measurements. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound elastography shows high diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing between benign and malignant GISTs. Combining SE and SWE provides complementary parameters for preoperative risk stratification.

Source: World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery

DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i6.103674

Authors: Hao Xu, Jiao-Ran Liu, Bo-Jian Gao, Long Peng, Zhi-Qin Han, Rong-Xin Zhang

Institution: Bethune International Peace Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Ultrasound Imaging and Elastography

Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: diamond