Abstract
Shear wave elastography (SWE) is a feasible and newly developed ultrasonographic technique
which is able to assess elasticity of tissues. The aim of this work was to assess
the feasibility of SWE on the normal canine common calcaneal tendon (CCT) evaluating
the intra-operator repeatability and reproducibility of single measurements and stiffness
of different anatomic CCT portions was examined. Tendons were first evaluated with
B-mode ultrasound with a linear probe 8.5 to 10 MHz in longitudinal section with slight
flexed tarsocrural joint and a gel-pad. Common calcaneal tendon was divided into three
different anatomical regions. Shear wave elastography was performed in each region
by two operators and quantitative evaluation (m/s and kPa) was performed on the most
representative images. Region of interest (0.15 cm) was settled. Intraclass correlation
coefficient (ICC) results were classified using the following scale: 0.00 to 0.20 = poor;
0.20 to 0.40 = fair; 0.40 to 075 = good; >0.75 = excellent. Ten adult dogs were enrolled.
Intra-operator ICC values were >0.75 for both operators in every tendon portion. Inter-operator
SWE ICC values for m/s measurements were 0.3, 0.61 and 0.61 for the enthesis, intermediate
portion and the myotendinous junction respectively; for kPa measurements, values were
respectively 0.3, 0.7 and 0.81. The three CCT portions were significantly different
in stiffness (p-value < 0.001 for both m/s and kPa measurements). These preliminary results provide
evidence that SWE is potentially appliable to assess mechanical properties of canine
CCT affected by tendinopathies.
Keywords
shear wave elastography - dog - common calcaneal tendon - repeatability - reproducibility
