BACKGROUND: Ultrasonography has provided the means for objective and non-invasive monitoring of the dynamics of some skin diseases. The pathologic scars (keloids and hypertrophic scars) that have an increased content of collagen, and have been not analyzed by high-frequency ultrasound so far. The purpose of the present study was to determine the ecographic features of these scars with a view in developing a reliable method for assessing the effectiveness of different therapeutic approaches. METHODS: Six pathological scars from five patients were examined by a 20 MHz B-Scanner and compared with healthy skin of the same region. Densitometry analysis was performed with the aid of a dedicated software. RESULTS: All the pathologic scars studied showed an easily identified echo-poor image clearly demarcated from the surrounding not involved tissue. When they were analyzed by densitometry, the lesions had highly significant reduced densitometric values (7.6+/-4.7) compared with regional healthy skin (31.79+/-10.8). CONCLUSION: The high-frequency ultrasonography is a suitable objective and non-invasive method for discriminating healthy from pathologic skin in hypertrophic scars and keloids.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Bessonart et al. (2005) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 2 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: