Tuesday, November 27 | 3:50 p.m.-4:00 p.m. | SSJ16-06 | Room E353B
Shear-wave elastography (SWE) works better than conventional ultrasound for tracking athletes with patellar tendinopathy, or "jumper's knee," researchers from New York City have found.Dr. Ogonna Nwawka and colleagues from the Hospital for Special Surgery studied any changes over time in the patellar tendons of 11 male college basketball players using shear-wave elastography, comparing the results with those from conventional ultrasound and scores from the Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment, Patellar Tendon (VISA-P) tool.
The players underwent conventional patellar tendon ultrasound and SWE on both knees at particular time points in the preseason and postseason. VISA-P scores were recorded throughout the season. Of the 11 players, six had baseline patellar tendinopathy on preseason ultrasound; over the course of the season, the condition progressed in four of the six.
Nwawka's group found that postseason SWE values showed a strong correlation with changes in VISA-P scores in the dominant and nondominant knees of the players, while conventional ultrasound data did not.
"These results ... [demonstrate] the benefit of this quantitative imaging technique over conventional ultrasound imaging in the characterization of clinically symptomatic patellar tendinopathy," the researchers concluded.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
