Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul;41(7):1807-1816.
doi: 10.1002/jum.15863. Epub 2021 Oct 29.

Shear Wave Elastography and Quantitative Ultrasound as Biomarkers to Characterize Deep Vein Thrombosis In Vivo

Guillaume Bosio  1   2 , Nora Zenati  3 , François Destrempes  2 , Boris Chayer  2 , Gilles Pernod  3   4   5 , Guy Cloutier  1   2   6
Affiliations

Shear Wave Elastography and Quantitative Ultrasound as Biomarkers to Characterize Deep Vein Thrombosis In Vivo

Guillaume Bosio et al. J Ultrasound Med. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Objective: Investigate shear wave elastography (SWE) and quantitative ultrasound (QUS) parameters in patients hospitalized for lower limb deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Method: Sixteen patients with DVT were recruited and underwent SWE and radiofrequency data acquisitions for QUS on day 0, day 7, and day 30 after the beginning of symptoms, in both proximal and distal zones of the clot identified on B-mode scan. SWE and QUS features were computed to differentiate between thrombi at day 0, day 7, and day 30 following treatment with heparin or oral anticoagulant. The Young's modulus from SWE was computed, as well as QUS homodyned K-distribution (HKD) parameters reflecting blood clot structure. Median and interquartile range of SWE and QUS parameters within clot were taken as features.

Results: In the proximal zone of the clot, the HKD ratio of coherent-to-diffuse backscatter median showed a significant decrease from day 7 to day 30 (P = .036), while the HKD ratio of diffuse-to-total backscatter median presented a significant increase from day 7 to day 30 (P = .0491). In the distal zone of the clot, the HKD normalized intensity of the echo envelope median showed a significant increase from day 0 to day 30 (P = .0062). No SWE features showed statistically significant differences over time. Nonetheless, a trend of lower median of Young's modulus within clot for patients who developed a pulmonary embolism was observed.

Conclusion: QUS features may be relevant to characterize clot's evolution over time. Further analysis of their clinical interpretation and validation on a larger dataset would deserve to be studied.

Keywords: homodyned K-distribution; quantitative ultrasound imaging; shear wave elastography imaging; ultrasonography; venous thrombosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. White RH. The epidemiology of venous thromboembolism. Circulation 2003; 107:I-4.
    1. Heit JA. Epidemiology of venous thromboembolism. Nat Rev Cardiol 2015; 12:464-474.
    1. Scarvelis D, Wells PS. Diagnosis and treatment of deep-vein thrombosis. CMAJ 2006; 175:1087-1092.
    1. Wells P, Anderson D. The diagnosis and treatment of venous thromboembolism. Hematology Am Soc Hematol Educ Program 2013; 2013:457-463.
    1. Baglin T, Luddington R, Brown K, Baglin C. Incidence of recurrent venous thromboembolism in relation to clinical and thrombophilic risk factors: prospective cohort study. Lancet 2003; 362:523-526.

LinkOut - more resources