Shear Wave Elastography and Quantitative Ultrasound as Biomarkers to Characterize Deep Vein Thrombosis In Vivo

Investigate shear wave elastography (SWE) and quantitative ultrasound (QUS) parameters in patients hospitalized for lower limb deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Sixteen patients with DVT were recruited and underwent SWE and radiofrequency data acquisitions for QUS on day 0, day 7, and day 30 after the beginning of symptoms, in both proximal and distal zones of the clot identified on B-mode scan. SWE and QUS features were computed to differentiate between thrombi at day 0, day 7, and day 30 following treatment with heparin or oral anticoagulant. The Young's modulus from SWE was computed, as well as QUS homodyned K-distribution (HKD) parameters reflecting blood clot structure. Median and interquartile range of SWE and QUS parameters within clot were taken as features.

In the proximal zone of the clot, the HKD ratio of coherent-to-diffuse backscatter median showed a significant decrease from day 7 to day 30 (P = .036), while the HKD ratio of diffuse-to-total backscatter median presented a significant increase from day 7 to day 30 (P = .0491). In the distal zone of the clot, the HKD normalized intensity of the echo envelope median showed a significant increase from day 0 to day 30 (P = .0062). No SWE features showed statistically significant differences over time. Nonetheless, a trend of lower median of Young's modulus within clot for patients who developed a pulmonary embolism was observed.

QUS features may be relevant to characterize clot's evolution over time. Further analysis of their clinical interpretation and validation on a larger dataset would deserve to be studied.