Sonoelastography of the Shoulder: A Narrative Review.

Arash Babaei-Ghazani,Antony Bertrand-Grenier,Carl-Elie Majdalani,Stéphane Sobczak,Dien Hung Luong

doi:10.3389/fresc.2021.704725

Abstract

Sonoelastography is a relatively new non-invasive imaging tool to assess the in vivo qualitative and quantitative biomechanical properties of various tissues. Two types of sonoelastography (SE) are commonly explored: strain and shear wave. Sonoelastography can be used in multiple medical subspecialties to assess pathological tissular changes by obtaining mechanical properties, shear wave speed, and strain ratio data. Although there are various radiological imaging methods, such as MRI or CT scan, to assess musculoskeletal structures (muscles, tendons, joint capsules), SE is more accessible since this approach is of low cost and does not involve radiation. As of 2018, SE has garnered promising data in multiple studies. Preliminary clinico-radiological correlations have been established to bridge tissue biomechanical findings with their respective clinical pathologies. Specifically, concerning the shoulder complex, recent findings have described mechanical tissue changes in shoulder capsulitis. The long head of the biceps and supraspinatus SE were among the recently studied structures with conditions regarding impingement, tendinosis, and tears. Since ultrasonography has established itself as an important tool in shoulder evaluation, it completes the history and physical examination skills of the clinicians. This study will provide an update on the most recent findings on SE of shoulder structures.

Highlights

Sonoelastography is a relatively new and non-invasive ultrasound (US) technique that provides information about mechanical properties of tissues, such as stiffness, based on the palpation method (1)
The following text words, Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms, and Boolean operators were used: “elastography or sonoelastography or elastosonography” and “shoulder,” “shoulder joint,” “shoulder pain” “biceps,” “capsulitis,” “labrum,” “deltoid,” “infraspinatus,” “supraspinatus,” “rotator cuff,” “teres major or minor,” “acromioclavicular joint,” “scapula,” “coracohumeral,” “coracoacromial,” “coracoclavicular,” “quadrangular space,” “triangular space or interval,” and “spinoglenoid.” We excluded all articles not related to shoulder region or elastography or SE
A systematic review by Chiu et al analyzed 11 studies covering the use of SE in pathologies such as adhesive capsulitis, rotator cuff tendinopathy, and tear (6)

Summary

Introduction

Sonoelastography is a relatively new and non-invasive ultrasound (US) technique that provides information about mechanical properties of tissues, such as stiffness, based on the palpation method (1). Dynamic SE (SWE) uses an acoustic radiation force to create and propagate shear waves. This method measures the shear wave speed to evaluate mechanical properties of tissues to visualize tissue displacements to allow the examiner to infer information regarding the tissular biomechanics (1–3). Both methods are operator-dependent and have yielded favorable inter-rater reliability (4, 5). This narrative review serves as an update on the novel literature concerning the usage of SE of the shoulder since 2018 until to date

Methods

Results

Conclusion