Shear Wave Elastography in Adnexal Masses: Is there any role?

Objective To evaluate the role of Shear wave elastography in characterizing adnexal masses. Design A prospective study. Setting Tertiary care hospital and research institute in India. Population Patients aged >12 years with an adnexal mass. Methods 95 adnexal masses in 85 patients were included in the analysis. The mean, minimum, and maximum elasticity values of the solid component of the mass and the ratio of the mean elasticity of the mass and myometrium were compared between benign and malignant adnexal masses and in different subgroups. In 91masses, histopathology was the gold standard, while in four of the masses, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was the gold standard. Main outcome measures Shear wave elastography parameters. Results No statistically significant difference was observed in the elasticity parameters between benign and malignant adnexal masses. In the analysis of subgroups, a statistically significant difference was observed in the mean and maximum elasticity values between benign non-neoplastic masses and neoplastic masses (p = 0.047). The rest of the subgroups had no statistically significant difference in the elasticity parameters. Conclusion Shear wave elastography did not contribute significantly to the characterization of adnexal masses.