Ultrasound better at differentiating soft tissue tumors than shear wave elastography

Ultrasound can distinguish between malignant and benign soft tissue tumors whereas shear wave elastography (SWE) cannot, according to a new study.

 Ultrasound and SWE were utilized on 109 patients diagnosed with soft tissue tumors. Ultrasound readings had 91.9% sensitivity and 72.2% specificity with near perfect inter-observer agreement. The mean and maximum shear wave velocity was not significantly different between malignant and benign lesions.

Reference

Ozturk M, Selcuk MB, Polat AV, Ozbalci AB, Baris YS. The diagnostic value of ultrasound and shear wave elastography in the differentiation of benign and malignant soft tissue tumors [published online ahead of print, 2020 Jun 6]. Skeletal Radiol. 2020;10.1007/s00256-020-03492-y. doi:10.1007/s00256-020-03492-y