01837nas a2200241   4500000000100000008004100001653002000042653002600062653001700088653001200105653001700117100002400134700001300158700002100171700001200192700001900204700001300223700001200236700001500248245008000263520123800343022001401581       2016                            d10aUltrasonography10aPeripheral neuropathy10aMedian Nerve10aleprosy10aElastography1 aNogueira-Barbosa MH1 aLugão H1 aGregio-Júnior E1 aCrema M1 aKobayashi MT T1 aFrade MA1 aPavan T1 aCarneiro A00aUltrasound elastography assessment of the median nerve in leprosy patients.3 a<p><strong>INTRODUCTION: </strong>We sought to compare median nerve elasticity between leprosy patients (LP) and healthy volunteers (HV) using ultrasound elastography (UE).</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>Two radiologists independently measured the strain ratio of the median nerve/flexor digitorum superficialis muscle (MN/FDSM) of 18 LP and 18 HV using real-time freehand UE. Statistical analysis included intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) and Mann-Whitney test.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The MN/FDSM strain ratio of the LP and HV were 2.66±1.30 and 3.52±0.93, respectively (P&lt;0.05). We observed a significantly lower MN/FDSM strain ratio in LP with reactions (types 1 and 2 cutaneous reactions associated or not with neuritis) (2.30±0.91) compared to LP without reactions (3.60±1.70). We found no significant differences between HV and LP without reactions. The intra- and inter-observer ICCs were 0.50 (95%CI: 0.11-0.72) and 0.34 (95%CI: 0.28-0.52), respectively.</p>

<p><strong>DISCUSSION: </strong>MN/FDSM strain ratios were significantly lower in LP with reactions. UE may be useful for nerve elasticity evaluation in leprosy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.</p>
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