Ultrasound features of 91 cases of medullary thyroid cancer / 中华内分泌外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To summarize the ultrasound features of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) and analyze its diagnosis value for MTC.Methods:91 patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma (103 nodules) in Department of Thyroid Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from Apr. 2013 to Nov. 2018 were retrospectively analyzed, including 36 males and 55 females. Preoperative ultrasound features and serum calcitonin levels were recorded. SPSS 22.0 was used and the measurement data of normal distribution was expressed as ± s, and the enumeration data was described by ratio or rate. The comparison between groups was performed by single factor ANOVA and rank sum test. Results:83.5% (86/103) of the MTC nodules were located in the middle and upper thyroid gland. Hypoechoic accounted for 78.6% (80/103) . 81.6% (84/103) of them had calcification and 74.8% (77/103) of these nodules had abundant blood flow signals (color Doppler flow imaging, CDFI Ⅱ-Ⅲ) . 91.3% (94/103) of them had aspect ratio less than 1, 87.4% (90/103) were solid and 35.0% (36/103) had comet tail sign. The positive rate of preoperative serum calcitonin was 86.8% (79/91) . There were significant differences in shape ( P=0.001) , margin ( P=0.012) , cystic ( P=0.004) , comet-tail ( P<0.001) , lymph node ( P<0.001) and color Doppler flow imaging ( P=0.001) through comparing MTC nodules in different TI-RADS grades. Conclusions:MTC can behave as single, solid, hypoechoic, large round nodule located in the middle or upper thyroid gland, with thick calcification and abundant blood flow signals in ultrasound. The surrounding area may be accompanied with comet tail sign, and the probability of lymph node metastasis is high. The suspicious nodules screened by ultrasound can be further diagnosed by serum calcitonin.