Clinical Application and Assessment of Ultrasound Imaging

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Nuclear Medicine & Radiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 March 2023) | Viewed by 7832

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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Clinical assessment in health can solve many questions regarding diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis in patients. Is a key point in the daily activities of healthcare providers. There are many tools that could add extra value to the insight of clinicians, such as ultrasound evaluation. Ultrasonography may be considered a useful tool in medicine and physical therapy, permitting novel static and dynamic evaluations for different body structures such as joint, nerve, muscle, tendon, and ligament. In recent years, new image-analysis software has been developed to obtain relationships, new information or other interesting data in different body regions related with clinical assessment.

I would like to invite researchers from across the world to contribute their knowledge and research in the form of novel and original articles and reviews for this Special Issue entitled “Clinical Application and Assessment of Ultrasound Imaging”. The purpose of this Special Issue is to highlight the benefits of the clinical application of ultrasound imaging for different pathologies and related with the health of the general population as well as clinical assessment.

Prof. Dr. David Rodríguez Sanz
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • clinical assessment
  • ultrasound evaluation
  • test
  • diagnosis
  • muscle
  • tendon

Published Papers (4 papers)

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10 pages, 806 KiB  
Article
A New Test for Achilles Tendinopathy Based on Kager’s Fat Pad Clinical Assessment Predictive Values
by David Rodríguez-Sanz, Marta Elena Losa-Iglesias, Ricardo Becerro de Bengoa-Vallejo, Zacarías Sánchez-Milá, Hend Adel Abdelhalim Dorgham, Ahmed Ebrahim Elerian, Tian Yu, César Calvo-Lobo, Jorge Velázquez-Saornil and Eva María Martínez Jimene
J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(16), 5183; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcm12165183 - 09 Aug 2023
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Abstract
Background This study aimed to check the diagnostic accuracy of a new test to identify Achilles tendinopathy. Study Design: Observational study. Methods: Seventy patients recruited from a private medical centre met the diagnostic criteria for unilateral Achilles tendinopathy (age, 45.1 ± 12.7 years; [...] Read more.
Background This study aimed to check the diagnostic accuracy of a new test to identify Achilles tendinopathy. Study Design: Observational study. Methods: Seventy patients recruited from a private medical centre met the diagnostic criteria for unilateral Achilles tendinopathy (age, 45.1 ± 12.7 years; weight, 75.00 ± 10 kg; height, 1.75 ± 0.1 m) and were tested based on both Achilles tendons. Seventy patients with a unilateral Achilles tendinopathy ultrasound diagnosis were tested using David’s test. Results: Most (86%) subjects demonstrated Kager’s fat pad asymmetry in relation to the Achilles tendon in the complete passive dorsiflexion in the prone position (David’s sign). No healthy tendons had David’s sign. Conclusions: The presence of asymmetry in Kager’s fat pad in relation to the Achilles tendon during complete passive dorsiflexion is strongly indicative of ultrasound-diagnosed tendinopathy. David’s test demonstrated a sensitivity of 85.71% (95% CI, 77.51% to 93.91%) and a specificity of 100% (95% CI, 100% to 100%), while noting the lack of blinding of the assessors and the uncertainty of the diagnostic measures (95% CI). Asymmetry of the fat pad could potentially serve as a characteristic marker for patients with Achilles tendinopathy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Application and Assessment of Ultrasound Imaging)
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12 pages, 1687 KiB  
Article
Architectural Ultrasound Pennation Angle Measurement of Lumbar Multifidus Muscles: A Reliability Study
by Cristina Monsalve-Vicente, Daniel Muñoz-Zamarro, Nicolás Cuenca-Zaldívar, Samuel Fernández-Carnero, Francisco Selva-Sarzo, Susana Nunez-Nagy, Fermin Naranjo-Cinto and Tomás Gallego-Izquierdo
J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11(17), 5174; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcm11175174 - 01 Sep 2022
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Abstract
The pennation angle has been shown to be a relevant parameter of muscle architecture. This parameter has not previously been measured in the lumbar multifidus musculature, and it is for this reason that it has been considered of great interest to establish an [...] Read more.
The pennation angle has been shown to be a relevant parameter of muscle architecture. This parameter has not previously been measured in the lumbar multifidus musculature, and it is for this reason that it has been considered of great interest to establish an assessment protocol to generate new lines of research in the future. Objective: The objective of this study was to establish a protocol for measuring the pennation angle of the multifidus muscles, with a study of intra-rater and interrater reliability values. Design: This was a reliability study following the recommendations of the Guidelines for Reporting Reliability and Agreement Studies (GRRAS). Setting: The study was carried out at University of Alcalá, Department of Physiotherapy. Subjects: Twenty-seven subjects aged between 18 and 55 years were recruited for this study. Methods: Different ultrasound images of the lumbar multifidus musculature were captured. Subsequently, with the help of ImageJ software, the pennation angle of this musculature was measured. Finally, a complex statistical analysis determined the intra- and interrater reliability. Results: The intra-rater reliability of the pennation angle measurement protocol was excellent for observer 1 in the measurement of the left-sided superficial multifidus 0.851 (0.74, 0.923), and for observer 2 in the measurement of the right-sided superficial 0.711 (0.535, 0.843) and deep multifidus 0.886 (0.798, 0.942). Interrater reliability was moderate to poor, and correlation analysis results were high for thickness vs. pennation angle. Conclusions: The designed protocol for ultrasound measurement of the pennation angle of the lumbar multifidus musculature has excellent intra-rater reliability values, supporting the main conclusions and interpretations. Normative ranges of pennation angles are reported. High correlation between variables is described. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Application and Assessment of Ultrasound Imaging)
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16 pages, 9242 KiB  
Article
Persistent Left Superior Vena Cava Significance in Prenatal Diagnosis—Case Series
by Mircea-Octavian Poenaru, Bashar Haj Hamoud, Romina-Marina Sima, Ionut-Didel Valcea, Radu Chicea and Liana Ples
J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11(14), 4020; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcm11144020 - 12 Jul 2022
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Abstract
The persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is a congenital heart anomaly reported in 0.3–0.5% of the general population and can be associated with congenital heart diseases in up to 8% of cases. Prenatal identification of PLSVC is important to prompt an extended [...] Read more.
The persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is a congenital heart anomaly reported in 0.3–0.5% of the general population and can be associated with congenital heart diseases in up to 8% of cases. Prenatal identification of PLSVC is important to prompt an extended cardiac and extracardiac fetal examination. We retrospectively reevaluated anomaly scans performed in our unit in a 2-year interval according to the national guidelines to evaluate the incidence of PLSVC and its association with prenatal morbidity. In our population, the incidence of PLSVC was 0.31%, and we found a low association with cardiac and extracardiac anomalies. The standard sections (three-vessel and trachea view, four-chamber view and outflow tract’s view) are insufficient to exclude cardiac anomalies whenever PLSVC is found. In our case series, only one newborn required postnatal surgery for total pulmonary vein anomaly, and at 2 years of life all babies had a normal evolution. Prenatal diagnosis of PLSVC can raise counseling issues; therefore, awareness of its good outcome when isolated and need for an extended examination to rule out other anomalies is very important. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Application and Assessment of Ultrasound Imaging)
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10 pages, 2222 KiB  
Case Report
Infiltrative Type I Collagen in the Treatment of Morton’s Neuroma: A Mini-Series
by Federico Giarda, Adele Agostini, Stefano Colonna, Luciana Sciumè, Alberto Meroni, Giovanna Beretta and Davide Dalla Costa
J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(14), 4640; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/jcm12144640 - 12 Jul 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1257
Abstract
Morton’s neuroma (MN) is a compressive neuropathy of the common plantar digital nerve, most commonly affecting the third inter-digital space. The conservative approach is the first recommended treatment option. However, other different approaches have been proposed, offering several options of treatments, where, several [...] Read more.
Morton’s neuroma (MN) is a compressive neuropathy of the common plantar digital nerve, most commonly affecting the third inter-digital space. The conservative approach is the first recommended treatment option. However, other different approaches have been proposed, offering several options of treatments, where, several degrees of efficacy and safety have been reported. We treated five consecutive patients affected by MN through three indirect ultrasound-guided injections of type I porcine collagen at weekly intervals. All patients were assessed before the treatment, after the treatment and up to 6 months after the last injection via AOFAS and VNS scores for pain, in which the function and pain were evaluated, respectively. In all patients, both analyzed variables progressively ameliorated, with benefits lasting until the last follow-up. The trend of the scores during the follow-up showed significant statistical differences. No side effects occurred. To our knowledge, this is the first study on injections of type I porcine collagen for the treatment of Morton’s neuroma. Future research is needed to confirm the positive trend achieved in this MN mini-series. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Clinical Application and Assessment of Ultrasound Imaging)
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