The diagnostic value of Chinese-thyroid imaging reporting and data system classification combined with shear wave elastography in thyroid microcarcinoma / 中国医师进修杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of Chinese-thyroid imaging reporting and data system (C-TIRADS) combined with shear wave elastography (SWE) in thyroid microcarcinoma.Methods:The clinical data of 270 patients (367 nodules) who underwent thyroid ultrasound examination and confirmed by pathology from January 2019 to June 2021 in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University were analyzed retrospectively. All patients were assisted by SWE in preoperative ultrasound examination to measure the maximum elastic modulus (E max), the average elastic modulus (E mean) and the minimum elastic modulus (E min). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to get the optimal threshold of SWE according to the pathological results. The diagnostic value of C-TIRADS, SWE and their combined in different diameters thyroid micronodules was analyzed. Results:Among 367 thyroid nodules, 119 nodules were benign and 248 nodules were malignant. The area under the curve (AUC) of E max in diagnosing TMC was significantly larger than that of E mean and E min (0.883 vs. 0.822 and 0.706), and there was statistical difference ( P<0.05); the best cut-off value of E max was 29.5 kPa. The ROC curve analysis results showed that the AUC of C-TIRADS combined with SWE in diagnosis of TMC was significantly larger than that of C-TIRADS and SWE alone (0.884 vs. 0.800 and 0.853), and there was statistical difference ( P<0.05); the sensitivity, accuracy and negative predictive value of C-TIRADS combined with SWE in diagnosis of TMC were significantly higher than those of C-TIRADS alone (90.32% vs. 80.24%, 89.10% vs. 80.11% and 81.10% vs. 65.97%), and there were statistical differences ( P<0.05). Thyroid nodules were divided into ≤0.5 cm nodules (56 nodules) and 0.5 to 1.0 cm nodules (311 nodules) according to the maximum diameter, the sensitivity and accuracy of C-TIRADS combined with SWE in diagnosing TMC in 0.5 to 1.0 cm nodules were significantly higher than those in ≤0.5 cm nodules 91.82% (202/220) vs. 78.57% (22/28) and 90.68% (282/311) vs. 80.36% (45/56), and there were statistical differences ( χ2 = 4.99 and 5.20, P<0.05), but there was no statistical difference in specificity between 2 groups ( P<0.05). Conclusions:C-TIRADS combined with SWE can further improve the diagnostic value of TMC, which is worth popularizing and applying in clinic.