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| Comparative study of strain ratio in ultrasonic elestography and gray-scale ultrasonography for differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules |
| AN Xiu-yan1, CONG Shu-zhen1, QIAN Jun1, ZHAO Xiao-hong1, GAN Ke-hong1, LIANG Ting2 |
| 1. Department of Ultrasound, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangzhou 510080, China; 2. Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China |
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Abstract Objective: To compare the value of strain ratio in ultrasonic elestography and gray-scale ultrasonography in differentiating benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Methods: A total of 165 patients with 196 thyroid nodules underwent conventional ultrasonography and elastography. The strain ratio of nodules were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic value of strain ratio. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were compared with gray-scale ultrasonography. Results: The area under the ROC curve(Az) of the strain ratio was 0.826. The strain ratio of 2.51 was the best diagnostic cut-off point. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of strain ratio were 81.63％, 72.79％ and 75.00％. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of gray-scale ultrasonography were 77.55%, 74.83% and 75.51%. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of combined diagnosis were 73.47%, 88.43% and 84.69%, respectively. The difference between strain ratio and gray-scale ultrasonography was not significant(χ2=1.45, P>0.05). The accuracy of combined diagnosis was higher than that of strain ratio(χ2=20.48， P<0.05) or gray-scale ultrasonography(χ2=14.70, P<0.05) alone. Conclusion: Strain ratio has moderate degree of diagnostic value in differentiating the benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Combination of strain ratio and gray scale ultrasonography can increase diagnostic accuracy significantly.
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Received: 10 August 2012
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2013, Vol. 24 
