The place of B‐mode ultrasonography, shear‐wave elastography, and superb microvascular imaging in the diagnosis of De Quervain tenosynovitis

Abstract Purpose Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) and Shear wave elastography (SWE) are newly developed ultrasonographic diagnostic tools used to support the diagnosis of De Quervain tenosynovitis (DQT). The aim of this study was to examine the capacity to differentiate between the wrist with DQT and the healthy wrist, as well as the potential for predicting the disease's severity using B‐mode ultrasonography, SWE, and SMI. Methods A total of 19 cases with unilateral clinical DQT were included in the prospective study. The wrists of these cases without DQT clinic constituted the control group. Results The SWE parameters of m/s and kPa cutoff values were ≤5.225 and ≤ 77.65, respectively, in the wrists with DQT compared to the wrists not diagnosed with DQT ( p < 0.001). Regarding SMI findings no microvascularity was determined in the abductor pollicis longus (APL) and extensor pollicis brevis (EPB) tendon sheaths of the wrists without DQT, and a significant increase was observed in the degree of microvascularity as the clinical severity of DQT increased. Conclusion SWE results can differentiate between the presence and absence of DQT. SMI grading of the APL and EPB tendon sheaths may be helpful to the clinician in deciding the clinical severity of DQT.