Application Value of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound In The Diagnosis of Intermediate Trophoblastic Tumours

Background: As the rarest gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN), intermediate trophoblastic tumours (ITTs) are very difficult to diagnose before surgery due to the lack of specificity of clinical manifestations. Routine colour Doppler ultrasonography is currently the simplest and reproducible imaging method for diagnosing ITTs, but it is not as specific as other tumours. Through the research and analysis of colour Doppler ultrasound images (CDFI) and contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) images of ITTs, the ultrasound characteristics and CEUS perfusion characteristics are summarized, and these findings can provide a reference for the correct diagnosis of ITTs. Methods: : Seven ITT patients were diagnosed and treated in our institution from January 2016 to August 2020, and the clinical data of all patients were retrospectively collected and analysed. Two sonographers who had worked for more than 5 years analysed the characteristics of the ultrasound and CEUS. Among them, the characteristics of CEUS are summarized and analysed from the four aspects of contrast enhancement method, time, boundary, and intensity. All cases were diagnosed with pathological support by ITTs. Results: : The most common clinical symptoms of ITT are vaginal bleeding and amenorrhea. The serum ß-human chorionic gonadotropin (serum-hCG) level was mainly a low-grade increase, but to determine whether the serum-hCG level can be used as one of the indicators for monitoring ITT recurrence or metastasis, a large sample data analysis is needed. The lesion location, internal echo changes, and blood flow signals of ITTs were not significantly specific compared with those of other GTNs. However, the CEUS performance of ITTs has certain characteristic changes, in which the enhancement mode was mainly regional enhancement, the arterial phase showed slow, equal-slightly high enhancement, and the enhanced bounders were not very clear. Compared with the CEUS performance of other GTNs, it has a certain specificity. Conclusions: : Certain characteristic changes in CEUS of ITTs, combined with clinical features, can provide help for the accurate diagnosis of ITT. Trial registration: For non-clinical or non-health care intervention on human participants of what the article reports.