Is sonoelastography a helpful method of evaluation to diagnose Sjögren's syndrome?

OBJECTIVE

A new sonoelastography technique - virtual touch tissue quantification of acoustic radiation force impulses (ARFI) - offers a promising method for measuring tissue rigidity. The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of ARFI for diagnosing Sjögren's syndrome (SS).

METHODS

This transversal prospective study included 41 patients with SS according to American-European Consensus Group (AECG) criteria, and a control group without symptoms. All subjects underwent ARFI high-resolution ultrasound assessment of the parotid glands (PG) and submandibular glands (SMG).

RESULTS

In patients with SS, parotid gland shear wave velocity (SWV) was 2.08 m/s ± 0.55, significantly higher than in control subjects (1.2 m/s ± 0.17) (P = 0.0001); submandibular gland SWV was higher in SS patients (2.12 m/s ± 0.44) than control subjects (1.56 m/s ± 0.16) (P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Acoustic radiation force impulses sonoelastography can assist diagnosis of SS, and is a non-invasive and fast method of detecting pathological changes to the parotid and submandibular glands.