Effect of Cortical Bone Thickness on Detection of Intraosseous Lesions by Ultrasonography

Abstract

Background . Usefulness of ultrasound (US) in detection of intrabony lesions has been showed. A cortical bone perforation or a very thin and intact cortical bone is prerequisite for this purpose. Objective . The current in vitro study was aimed at measuring the cut-off thickness of the overlying cortical bone which allows ultrasonic assessment of bony defects. Materials and Methods . 20 bovine scapula blocks were obtained. Samples were numbered from 1 to 20. In each sample, 5 artificial lesions were made. The lesions were made in order to increase the overlying bone thickness, from 0.1 mm in the first sample to 2 mm in the last one (with 0.1 mm interval). After that, the samples underwent ultrasound examinations by two practicing radiologists. Results . All five lesions in samples numbered 1 to 11 were detected as hypoechoic area. Cortical bone thickness more than 1.1 mm resulted in a failure in the detection of central lesions. Conclusion . We can conclude that neither bony perforation nor very thin cortical bones are needed to consider US to be an effective imaging technique in the evaluation of bony lesion.