Contrast-enhanced ultrasound in thyroid nodules diagnosis.

Sencha E.A.

The prevalence of thyroid diseases in adults in the general population ranges from 8 to 20%. Complex ultrasound examination in early differential diagnosis of thyroid disorders is highly significant. Purpose. To explore implication and efficiency of the use of ultrasound contrast agents in US thyroid nodular lesions diagnostics. Material and methods. A total of 154 patients (21-76 years old) with thyroid nodular lesions received contrast-enhanced ultrasound examination (SonoVue, Bracco, Italy). Morphological study confirmed malignant thyroid lesions was performed in 73 patients, be-nign – in 81 patient. Results. Benign thyroid nodules were characterized by following qualitative signs: homogeneous enhancement (62%), well-defined margins (75%), fast «wash-in» in arterial phase (63%) and «wash-in» pattern that was compared with surrounding parenchyma (52%). Quantitative parameters (M±SD) of contrast enhancement for benign thyroid nodules: time to peak – 21.17 ± 3.06 sec, peak intensity – 32.9 ± 3.14 dB, descending time/2 –78.16 ± 16.27 sec, time to peak index– 1.07 ± 0.06, peak intensity index – 0.94 ± 0.06, descending time index/2 – 0,95 ±0,09. Malignant thyroid nodules were characterized by following qualitative signs: : heterogeneous enhancement (77%), poorly-defined margins (63%), fast «wash-in» in arterial phase (74%), and fast «wash out» in venous phase (74%). Quantitative parameters of contrast enhance-ment for malignant thyroid nodules were as follows: time to peak – 21.93 ± 3.29 sec, peak intensity – 31.65 ± 2.54 dB, descending time /2 –62,41 ± 9.82 sec, time to peak index – 1.07 ± 0.12, peak intensity index – 0.95±0.09, descending time index /2 – 1.12 ± 0.13. Conclusion. Thus, all the criteria for qualitative and quantitative analysis that are taken into account are unique and informative, and require joint accounting. ROC curve analysis showed an AUC of 0.771.
9th Medical and Diagnostic Center of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. Russian Medical Academy of continuing Professional Education.. Moscow, Russia.


 

 

 

 

 

Corresponding author:Sencha Е.А., e-mail: Этот e-mail адрес защищен от спам-ботов, для его просмотра у Вас должен быть включен Javascript

 

For citation: : Sencha E.A. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound in thyroid nodules diagnosis. REJR 2017; 7 (3):44-52. DOI:10.21569/2222-7415-2017-7-3-44-52.

Received: 30.06.2017 Accepted:28.08.2017