Objectives: Parenchymal stiffness obtained by point shear-wave elastography (pSWE) in solid organs is used as a sign of damage in these organs. However, its clinical use and whether patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have increased ovarian tissue stiffness are still unclear. The aim of this study is to determine the parameters related to ovarian stiffness and whether there is an increase in ovarian stiffness in patients with PCOS compared with healthy controls. Methods: Forty-five women who were followed up regularly with the diagnosis of PCOS and 30 healthy controls similar to age and sex were included in this study. In addition to the routine follow-up parameters for PCOS, serum homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels were examined in all patients, and pSWE examination was performed with pelvic ultrasound (US) and ElastPQ technique. Results: Serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, and AMH were higher in PCOS compared with healthy controls (P < 0.001). Right, left, and mean ovary stiffness and volumes were significantly higher in PCOS group than healthy controls (P < 0.001). Correlation analysis was performed between mean ovary stiffness and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone, homeostatic model assessment, and AMH and ovary volumes (P < 0.01 for each one). In linear regression analysis, only AMH was found to be related to mean ovary stiffness (P < 0.001 and β = 0.734). Conclusions: Ovarian stiffness value obtained by ElastPQ technique and pSWE method increases in PCOS patients compared with healthy controls and is closely related to serum AMH levels. In patients with PCOS, in addition to the conventional US, ovarian stiffness measured by pSWE may be an auxiliary examination in the follow-up of the disease. However, it was concluded that the ovarian stiffness measurement obtained in our current study should be supported by studies involving more patients and the transvaginal US method.

We aimed to investigate changes in renal cortical stiffness (CS) in Type II diabetes mellitus (DM) and pre-DM patients compared to subjects with normal glucose metabolism (NGM), as well as the usefulness of renal CS to determine the presence of nephropathy. This study included 125 individuals with NGM, pre-DM and Type II DM. Routine laboratory data was obtained, and micro- and macrovascular involvement were investigated. Urinary albumin-creatinine ratio (ACR) was measured for urinary albuminuria detection. In addition to routine renal ultrasonography, CS was measured using renal elastography. Among the included patients, 42, 40 and 43 patients had NGM, pre-DM and Type II DM, respectively, with prevalence of nephropathy of 5%, 15% and 33%, respectively. Carotid and aortic intima-media thickness (IMT), renal width, and CS were found to be higher in the pre-DM and Type II DM groups than the NGM group. Aortic-IMT, renal width and urinary ACR levels were independently associated with CS. Patients with nephropathy were found to have a higher CS value than those without nephropathy (8.72 ± 1.67 kPa vs. 10.60 ± 1.74 kPa, p = 0.001). In ROC analysis, when the cutoff value for CS was taken as 9.2 kPa, renal CS predicted the possibility of nephropathy with 78.9% sensitivity and 71.4% specificity. CS values are significantly higher in patients with impaired glucose metabolism. We recommend CS measurement as part of routine screening of nephropathy in patients with pre-DM and newly diagnosed Type II DM.

Resumo Fundamento Embora se saiba que a fração de ejeção (FE) do ventrículo esquerdo (VE) medida por eletrocardiograma seja preservada em pacientes com acromegalia, não há informação suficiente sobre deformação longitudinal global e deformação do átrio esquerdo (SLG-VE e SAE). Objetivo O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar as funções do ventrículo esquerdo (VE) e do átrio esquerdo (AE) por ecocardiograma strain (ES) em pacientes com acromegalia. Métodos Este estudo incluiu 50 pacientes com acromegalia na forma ativa da doença e [...] Resumo Fundamento Embora se saiba que a fração de ejeção (FE) do ventrículo esquerdo (VE) medida por eletrocardiograma seja preservada em pacientes com acromegalia, não há informação suficiente sobre deformação longitudinal global e deformação do átrio esquerdo (SLG-VE e SAE). Objetivo O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar as funções do ventrículo esquerdo (VE) e do átrio esquerdo (AE) por ecocardiograma strain (ES) em pacientes com acromegalia. Métodos Este estudo incluiu 50 pacientes com acromegalia na forma ativa da doença e