Diagnostic value of elastosonographically determined strain index in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules

• Published in: Endocrine 2011-02, Vol.39 (1), p.89-98
• Main Authors: Cakir, Bekir, Aydin, Cevdet, Korukluoğlu, Birol, Ozdemir, Didem, Sisman, I. Cagatay, Tüzün, Dilek, Oguz, Ayten, Güler, Gülnur, Güney, Güven, Kuşdemir, Ahmet, Yavuz Sanisoglu, S., Ersoy, Reyhan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Autoantibodies - blood; Biopsy, Fine-Needle; Diabetes; Diagnosis, Differential; Elasticity; Endocrinology; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Pressure; Prospective Studies; Science; Sensitivity and Specificity; Thyroid Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Thyroid Neoplasms - pathology; Thyroid Nodule - diagnostic imaging; Thyroid Nodule - pathology; Thyrotropin - blood; Ultrasonography - methods
• ISSN: 1355-008X; 1559-0100
• DOI: 10.1007/s12020-010-9416-3

Elastosonography (ES) is a newly developed method that is used for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. In different studies, ES scoring has been compared with histopathological findings, and sensitivity and specificity of the scoring were calculated. In this study, it determines the strain index (SI) as well as the ES to score thyroid nodules, and establishes the role for these parameters in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules using histopathological analysis as a reference standard. Real-time ES in transverse axis (TA) and longitudinal axis (LA) was performed in 391 nodules of 292 patients. ES scoring was made for all the nodules. SI in TA and LA was calculated for four times in each nodule and mean values were determined. The results were compared with final histopathological diagnoses. In histopathological examinations, 125 (31.97%) of 391 nodules were malignant and 266 (68.03%) were benign. Of these histopathologically benign nodules, 189 (%71.05) were also probably benign according to elastosonographic scoring (scores of 1, 2, or 3), while 77 (28.95%) were probably malignant (scores of 4 or 5). Among 125 histopathologically malignant nodules, 52 (41.60%) were probably benign and 73 (58.40%) were probably malignant according to elastosonographic scoring. There was a significant relation between scoring and histopathological findings (χ 2  = 36.513; P