Ultrasound in diagnosis of malignant and benign thyroid nodules in children / 中国医学影像技术

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the value of ultrasound in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules in children. Methods Ultrasonic manifestations of 120 children with thyroid nodules confirmed by pathology were retrospectively analyzed, and ultrasonic features of benign and malignant thyroid nodules were compared. Results Among 120 cases, malignant nodules were detected in 71 cases (71/120, 59.17%), while benign nodules were found in 49 cases (49/120, 40.83%). There were significant differences of the shape, boundary, margin, composition, echo and calcification types between benign and malignant thyroid nodules (all P<0.05). The accuracy of the above ultrasonic features in diagnosis of malignant thyroid nodules was 80.00%(112/140), 78.57%(110/140), 78.57%(110/140), 81.43%(114/140), 82.86%(116/140), 87.86%(123/140), the sensitivity was 68.29%(56/82), 70.73%(58/82), 73.17%(60/82), 97.56%(80/82), 90.24%(74/82), 79.27%(65/82), and the specificity was 96.55%(56/58), 89.66%(52/58), 86.21%(50/58), 58.62%(34/58), 72.41%(42/58), 100%(58/58). Among 71 cases of malignant thyroid nodules, 60 cases (60/71, 84.51%) were associated with cervical lymph node metastasis, 14 cases (14/71, 19.72%) were associated with central region lymph node metastasis, 46 cases (46/71, 64.79%) were simultaneously involved in the lateral compartment. Conclusion Ultrasound can effectively differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules in children.