“Taller-than-wide sign” of thyroid malignancy: comparison between transverse and longitudinal plane using ultrasound / 中华超声影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo evaluate the diagnostic value of “taller-than-wide sign” of thyroid malignancy in transverse and longitudinal plane using ultrasound.Methods708 thyroid lesions including 302 benign nodules and 406 malignant nodules ( 390 papillary carcinomas,12 medullary carcinomas,4 follicular carcinomas) that were diagnosed at surgery were included in this study.The sensitivity and specificity of “taller-than-wide sign” in transverse (A/TC ≥ 1 ) and longitudinal plane (A/TL ≥ 1 ) were evaluated using ultrasound.All thyroid malignant lesions were divided into three groups according to size of the nodulesgroup A≤1 cm; group B≤2 cm,group C＞2 cm.The sensitivity of each group was also evaluated.ResultsThe constituent ratio of “taller-than-wide sign” between benign and malignant nodules was significantly different (P＜0.001 ).The differences of sensitivity of A/TL ≥ 1 and A/TC ≥ 1 among three groups were also found( P ＜0.001),and the sensitivity of A/Tc≥1 was higher than A/TL≥1.ConclusionsA/TC≥1 found by ultrasound contributes to differentiate the thyroid carcinoma from benign nodules.For a large thyroid lesion,other indicators are needed to diagnose thyroid carcinoma.