Affiliations: [a] Department of Urology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich-Grosshadern Campus, Munich, Germany
| [b] Department of Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich-Grosshadern Campus, Munich, Germany
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Dr. Matthias Trottmann, M.D., Department of Urology, Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich – Großhadern Campus, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377 Munich, Germany. Tel.: +4989/4400-0; E-mail: julian.marcon@med.uni-muenchen.de.
Abstract: PURPOSE: To investigate the difference of standard values of Supersonic shear imaging (SSI) and Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) technique in the evaluation of testicular tissue stiffness in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 58 healthy male testes were examined using B-mode sonography and ARFI and SSI. B-mode sonography was performed in order to scan the testis for pathologies followed by performance of real-time elastography in three predefined areas (upper pole, central portion and lower pole) using the SuperSonic® Aixplorer ultrasound device (SuperSonic Imagine, Aix-en-Provence, France). Afterwards a second assessment of the same testicular regions by elastography followed using the ARFI technique of the Siemens Acuson 2000™ ultrasound device (Siemens Health Care, Germany). Values of shear wave velocity were described in m/s. Parameters of elastography techniques were compared using paired sample t-test. RESULTS: The values of SSI were all significantly higher in all measured areas compared to ARFI (p < 0.001 to p = 0.015). Quantitatively there was a higher mean SSI wave velocity value of 1,1 compared to 0.8 m/s measured by ARFI. CONCLUSION: SSI values are significantly higher than ARFI values when measuring the stiffness of testicular tissue and should only be compared with caution.
