Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1760207 | Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology | 2016 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
To evaluate the feasibility of ultrasound strain elastography in assessing the response of muscle stiffness to the acute levodopa test, we prospectively performed strain elastography on the biceps brachii muscle (BBM) of 18 patients to diagnose Parkinson's disease. BBM and subcutaneous tissue strains (deformations) were produced by external compression with an ultrasound transducer and estimated using 2-D speckle tracking. We used the strain ratio (SR = BBM strain/reference strain) to assess BBM stiffness. The rate of increase in SR [rate = (SR after levodopaâSR before levodopa)/SR before levodopa] was used to assess the muscle stiffness response to levodopa. SR significantly increased after levodopa administration in 11 patients with Parkinson's disease (p = 0.02), whereas it did not in 7 patients with parkinsonian syndrome (from non-Parkinson's causes) (p = 0.14). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for the rate of increase in SR in determining Parkinson's disease was 0.96. The rate of increase in SR seems to be feasible in evaluating the effect of levodopa on muscle stiffness in the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Physics and Astronomy
Acoustics and Ultrasonics
Authors
Jing Gao, Li-Juan Du, Wen He, Shuo Li, Ling-Gang Cheng,