Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jun 27, 2025; 17(6): 103674
Published online Jun 27, 2025. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i6.103674
Ultrasound elastography for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumors
Hao Xu, Jiao-Ran Liu, Bo-Jian Gao, Long Peng, Zhi-Qin Han, Rong-Xin Zhang
Hao Xu, Jiao-Ran Liu, Long Peng, Zhi-Qin Han, Rong-Xin Zhang, Department of Ultrasound Diagnosis, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Bo-Jian Gao, Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Bethune International Peace Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China
Author contributions: Xu H and Liu JR conceived the study; Peng L participated in the data collection; Han ZQ and Xu H drafted the initial version of the manuscript; Zhang RX and Han ZQ contributed to the formal analysis of this study; Liu JR conducted the research, methodology, and visualization; Xu H and Liu JR validated the study; Xu H, Liu JR, Gao BJ, Peng L, Han ZQ, and Zhang RX participated in the study and jointly reviewed and edited the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Bethune International Peace Hospital in Hebei Province (No. BIPH-LL-2021-011).
Clinical trial registration statement: This study is registered at the Clinical Registry. https://www.researchregistry.com (Researchregistry11143).
Informed consent statement: The study was conducted with the consent of patients and their guardians who signed informed consent forms.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: No data available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hao Xu, Bachelor of Medicine, Attending Physician, Department of Ultrasound Diagnosis, Bethune International Peace Hospital, No. 398 Zhongshan West Road, Qiaoxi District, Shijiazhuang 050000, Hebei Province, China. xh330029nb@126.com
Received: March 7, 2025
Revised: March 31, 2025
Accepted: May 6, 2025
Published online: June 27, 2025
Processing time: 84 Days and 3.8 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Ultrasound elastography, combining strain elastography and shear-wave elastography, provides excellent diagnostic precision in distinguishing between benign and malignant gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). A study involving 103 GISTs revealed that malignant tumors displayed notably elevated strain ratios and average elastic moduli. The optimal thresholds for strain ratio (3.45) and mean elastic modulus (32.5 kPa) exhibited high sensitivity and specificity. This noninvasive imaging approach can facilitate preoperative risk assessment and enhance the diagnostic evaluation of GISTs.