Comparison of the effectiveness of ultrasound elastography with that of conventional ultrasound for differential diagnosis of thyroid lesions with suspicious ultrasound features

Yang,Jinru; Song,Yan; Wei,Wei; Ruan,Litao; Ai,Hong

doi:10.3892/ol.2017.6644

Comparison of the effectiveness of ultrasound elastography with that of conventional ultrasound for differential diagnosis of thyroid lesions with suspicious ultrasound features

Authors:
- Jinru Yang
- Yan Song
- Wei Wei
- Litao Ruan
- Hong Ai
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Affiliations: Department of Ultrasonics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shanxi 710061, P.R. China
Published online on: July 21, 2017 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.6644
Pages: 3515-3521
Copyright: © Yang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Ultrasound elastography (USE) has been used for quantitative imaging since the early 1990s. The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of USE with that of conventional ultrasound in the differential diagnosis of benign vs. malignant thyroid nodules. USE was performed on 150 thyroid nodules in 123 patients. USE demonstrated a lower grade of elasticity (grade I/II) in 86% of benign nodules and a decreased strain ratio (2.30±1.01) compared with malignant nodules. USE of malignant nodules exhibited a higher grade of elasticity (grade III/IV) in 90% of nodules and an increased strain ratio (6.39±2.50). The results of the present study indicate that USE and strain ratio may be useful in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules.

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