Sl10 2 probe

For SWE acquisitions, a standardized methodology was performed: the same SL10-2 probe (SuperSonic Imagine Ltd, Aix-en-Provence, France) was used for all LN and was placed along the long axis of the LN. The SWE™ box was adjusted to include the LN plus some surrounding tissue.
To ensure the quality of the SWE map, the acquisition was frozen after the stabilization of the 2D elasticity map display (about 10s), and the elasticity map with the best color filling and temporal stability was selected through the cineloop for further quantitative and qualitative analysis.

The examinations were performed using an Aixplorer® machine (SuperSonic Imagine Ltd, Aix-en-Provence, France) with a SL10-2 probe (SuperSonic Imagine Ltd, Aix-en-Provence, France) with a central frequency of 10 MHz. The following B-mode/color Doppler criteria suspicious of malignancy were noted: 1) loss of hilum, 2) markedly hypoechoic LN compared to neighboring muscles, 3) hyper vascularization (central, mixed or peripheral), 4) cystic changes or calcifications. LNs were considered malignant according to Conventional Ultrasound if at least two of those US suspicious criteria were present. The long axis/short axis diameter size ratio was also calculated.