Various etiologies and risk factors contribute to foot pain in children and adolescents, including conditions such as Kohler's disease, Sever's disease, Iselin's disease, rigid flat foot, accessory navicular, Freiberg's disease, sesamoiditis, os trigonum syndrome, and more. High-frequency musculoskeletal ultrasonography can show both the bone surface and the surrounding soft tissue clearly from various angles in real-time, thereby providing a higher level of detail that is helpful for identifying the etiology of foot pain and monitoring disease progression compared with other imaging modalities. This review provides an overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations and characteristic ultrasonographic findings of select foot pain conditions in children and adolescents.

Various etiologies and risk factors contribute to foot pain in children and adolescents, including conditions such as Kohler's disease, Sever's disease, Iselin's disease, rigid flat foot, accessory navicular, Freiberg's disease, sesamoiditis, os trigonum syndrome, and more. High-frequency musculoskeletal ultrasonography can show both the bone surface and the surrounding soft tissue clearly from various angles in real-time, thereby providing a higher level of detail that is helpful for identifying the etiology of foot pain and monitoring disease progression compared with other imaging modalities. This review provides an overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations and characteristic ultrasonographic findings of select foot pain conditions in children and adolescents.

Various etiologies and risk factors contribute to foot pain in children and adolescents, including conditions such as Kohler's disease, Sever's disease, Iselin's disease, rigid flat foot, accessory navicular, Freiberg's disease, sesamoiditis, os trigonum syndrome, and more. High-frequency musculoskeletal ultrasonography can show both the bone surface and the surrounding soft tissue clearly from various angles in real-time, thereby providing a higher level of detail that is helpful for identifying the etiology of foot pain and monitoring disease progression compared with other imaging modalities. This review provides an overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations and characteristic ultrasonographic findings of select foot pain conditions in children and adolescents.

Various etiologies and risk factors contribute to foot pain in children and adolescents, including conditions such as Kohler's disease, Sever's disease, Iselin's disease, rigid flat foot, accessory navicular, Freiberg's disease, sesamoiditis, os trigonum syndrome, and more. High-frequency musculoskeletal ultrasonography can show both the bone surface and the surrounding soft tissue clearly from various angles in real-time, thereby providing a higher level of detail that is helpful for identifying the etiology of foot pain and monitoring disease progression compared with other imaging modalities. This review provides an overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations and characteristic ultrasonographic findings of select foot pain conditions in children and adolescents.

Various etiologies and risk factors contribute to foot pain in children and adolescents, including conditions such as Kohler's disease, Sever's disease, Iselin's disease, rigid flat foot, accessory navicular, Freiberg's disease, sesamoiditis, os trigonum syndrome, and more. High-frequency musculoskeletal ultrasonography can show both the bone surface and the surrounding soft tissue clearly from various angles in real-time, thereby providing a higher level of detail that is helpful for identifying the etiology of foot pain and monitoring disease progression compared with other imaging modalities. This review provides an overview of the epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations and characteristic ultrasonographic findings of select foot pain conditions in children and adolescents.

Objective:To investigate the value of ultrasound in the diagnosis of intraneural perineurioma.Methods:From June 2015 to June 2022, 11 patients with intraneural perineurioma confirmed by surgery or biopsy in Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University were retrospectively collected, all of whom underwent high-frequency ultrasound examination. Clinical data and sonographic characteristics were collected. The maximum cross-sectional area of the affected nerve was recorded and compared with the corresponding site of the contralateral nerve.Results:All the 11 cases of intraneural perineurioma were single neuropathy. The sonogram showed that the affected nerve was spindle shaped and thickened. There was a statistical difference between the maximum cross-sectional area of the thickened intraneural perineurioma and the corresponding site of the contralateral nerve [(0.158±0.043)cm vs (0.044±0.012)cm, t=8.669, P<0.001]. The fascicles of the affected nerve were thickened with loss of normal fascicular definition, but there were still hyperechoic linear separation among the fascicles. Conclusions:High-frequency ultrasound may be a valuable technique for the diagnosis of intraneural perineurioma.

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of ultrasonography in Poland′s syndrome.Methods:From February 2016 to December 2020, the ultrasonographic images of 15 patients with Poland′s syndrome diagnosed by Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University were retrospectively analyzed, and the ultrasonographic features were summarized.Results:High-frequency ultrasound could clearly show the anatomical structures of each layer of the chest wall of the patients with Poland′s syndrome. The sonogram of Poland′s syndrome mainly showed the absence of all or part of the pectoralis major on the affected side, some of which were combined with the absence of pectoralis minor. The difference between the thickness of the affected chest wall and the healthy side was statistically significant ( P<0.01). Among the 15 cases of Poland′s syndrome, 11 cases had brachydactyly or syndactyly. Ultrasound showed that the bifurcation position of the common palmar digital artery of the middle finger was lower than that of the healthy side. Conclusions:The ultrasonography is an effective imaging method for diagnosis of Poland′s syndrome.

Objective:To study the clinical value of color Doppler ultrasonography in the diagnosis of persistent sciatic vein(PSV).Methods:A retrospective study was performed on 17 patients who were diagnosed with PSV by color Doppler ultrasound in the Second Hospital of Shandong University and the Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University from May 2010 to December 2021. Their sonographic features were analyzed, summarized and classified.Results:In all the 17 cases, the sciatic vein showed a vein adjacent to the sciatic nerve in the pelvis or back of the thigh. According to anatomy, persistent sciatic vein could be divided into three types: complete PSV, upper PSV and lower PSV. There were 7 cases of complete PSV, 2 cases of upper PSV and 8 cases of lower PSV. Femoral vein dysplasia was found in 11 of 17 patients with PSV. In addition to 1 case of bilateral PSV, the diameter of the femoral vein on the affected side was (0.36±0.19)cm in 16 cases, and the diameter of femoral vein at the corresponding position on the healthy side was (0.61±0.11)cm, there was significant difference between the two groups ( P<0.001). Conclusions:Color Doppler ultrasonography is the effective imaging method for diagnosis of the PSV.

Objective:To investigate the clinical characteristics and etiology of pulmonary embolism in children, and to discuss the efficacy and safety of anticoagulation therapy.Methods:The data of 30 children with pulmonary embolism, who were treated with anticoagulation therapy in the Department of Pediatrics, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University from January 2017 to December 2021, were analyzed retrospectively.The etiology, clinical characteristics, complications, outcomes and prognosis after anticoagulation treatment were analyzed.Results:There were 17 males and 13 females, with an average age of (8.95±2.58) years (age range: 4-13 years). The follow-up duration was 3-59 months.(1) The symptoms included cough in 30 cases (100.0%), fever in 29 cases (96.7%), shortness of breath in 27 cases (90.0%), chest pain in 15 cases (50.0%), hemoptysis in 9 cases (30.0%), bloody secretions under bronchoscopy but no hemoptysis in 4 cases (13.3%), and respiratory failure in 2 cases (6.7%). (2) The protopathy was Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in 23 cases (76.7%), whose symptoms accorded with refractory Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia.About 16 cases (53.3%) were positive for Mycoplasma pneumoniae drug resistance mutation 2063A>G or 2064A>G.Two cases (6.7%) had nephrotic syndrome.One case (3.3%) had purpura nephritis (nephrotic syndrome type). One case (3.3%) was lupus nephritis (nephrotic syndrome type). One case (3.3%) was hereditary protein S deficiency.One case (3.3%) had osteomyelitis and Staphylococcus aureus sepsis.One case (3.3%) had congenital heart disease.(3) Complications included limb thrombosis in 7 cases (23.3%), atrial thrombosis in 2 cases (6.7%), thoracic and abdominal deep venous thrombosis in 2 case (6.7%), cerebral infarction in 2 cases (6.7%), and splenic infarction in 1 case (3.3%). (4) Imaging examination showed that 30 children had lung consolidation/atelectasis (100.0%), and 24 cases had pleural effusion (80.0%). (5) Coagulation function examination suggested D-dimer increased to ≥ 5 mg/L in 21 cases (70.0%). (6) One case (3.3%) was given thrombolytic therapy with urokinase at the acute stage.Nine cases (30.0%) were treated with heparin/low molecular weight heparin.Twenty-one cases (70.0%) first received anticoagulation therapy with heparin/low molecular weight heparin and later took oral anticoagulant.Four cases (13.3%) were treated with Warfarin and 17 cases (56.7%) with Rivaroxaban.The anticoagulant treatment lasted 1-9 months.No recurrence of embolism or sequelae of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension was observed. Conclusions:Infection, especially Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, is the main cause of pulmonary embolism in children.The symptoms of pulmonary embolism in children are atypical, so it is difficult to distinguish this disease from primary underlying diseases.Bronchoscopy can help find occult pulmonary hemorrhage.Unexplained shortness of breath in children of any age suggests the possibility of pulmonary embolism.Combination of clinical symptoms and necessary examination contribute to early diagnosis of pulmonary embolism.Then selection of appropriate anticoagulant drugs and timely anticoagulant therapy can improve the prognosis of children.

Objective:To investigate the value of ultrasound in the diagnosis of hourglass-like fascicular constrictions of the anterior interosseous nerve.Methods:From July 2010 to July 2020, 12 patients with hourglass-like fascicular constrictions of the anterior interosseous nerve diagnosed in Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute Affiliated to Shandong University were retrospectively analyzed. The characteristics of the high-frequency ultrasonographic images were summarized and compared with clinical surgery.Results:The hourglass-like fascicular constrictions of the anterior interosseous nerve were all located in the median nerve of the distal upper arm in 12 patients, including 9 cases of single hourglass change and 3 cases of multiple hourglass like changes. High-frequency ultrasound can accurately locate the location of the hourglass-like fascicular constrictions of the anterior interosseous nerve and the extent of neuropathy. The sonogram of hourglass-like fascicular constrictions of the anterior interosseous nerve showed single or multiple hourglass-like changes in the median nerve of the distal upper arm. The nerve fasciculars on both sides of hourglass-like changes were thickened. There was significant difference between the diameter of the affected fascicular and the corresponding position of the contralateral fascicular[(0.20±0.04)cm vs (0.11±0.03)cm, P<0.01]. There was significant difference between the cross-sectional area of the median nerve at the widest part of the lesion side and the corresponding position of the contralateral side[(0.14±0.03)cm 2 vs (0.09±0.03)cm 2, P<0.01]. Conclusions:High-frequency ultrasound is the preferred image method for the diagnosis of hourglass-like fascicular constrictions of the anterior interosseous nerve.