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Incremental diagnostic value of shear wave elastography combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound in TI-RADS category 4a and 4b nodules

  • Original Article–Breast & Thyroid
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the diagnostic value of shear wave elastography (SWE) combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in diagnosing thyroid imaging reporting and data system (TI-RADS) category 4a and 4b nodules.

Methods

TI-RADS, SWE, and CEUS features of 71 thyroid nodules (23 benign, 48 malignant) confirmed by postoperative pathological results were retrospectively analyzed. The diagnostic efficiency of each single method and that of a combination of three methods were compared.

Results

The sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing thyroid nodules were 70.83% and 65.22% for TI-RADS, 68.75% and 91.30% for SWE, 77.08% and 78.26% for CEUS, and 91.67% and 95.65% for TI-RADS + SWE + CEUS, respectively. The area under the curve for TI-RADS, SWE, CEUS, and TI-RADS + SWE + CEUS in diagnosing thyroid nodules were 0.680, 0.839, 0.799, and 0.937, respectively. A significant difference was observed between a combination of the three methods and any of them alone (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Combining SWE and CEUS improves the differential diagnosis of TI-RADS category 4a and 4b nodules.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Management Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Huang Shao-Ting

  2. Department of Medical Ultrasound, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, No. 87, Xiangya Rd, Changsha, 410008, Hunan, China

    Zhang Bo, Liao Jin-Tang & Wang Yi-Bin

  3. Department of Pathology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Yin Hong-Ling & Li Bo

Authors
  1. Huang Shao-Ting
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  2. Zhang Bo
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  3. Yin Hong-Ling
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  4. Li Bo
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  5. Liao Jin-Tang
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  6. Wang Yi-Bin
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Correspondence to Liao Jin-Tang or Wang Yi-Bin.

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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975, as revised in 2008.

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Huang, ST., Zhang, B., Yin, HL. et al. Incremental diagnostic value of shear wave elastography combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound in TI-RADS category 4a and 4b nodules. J Med Ultrasonics 47, 453–462 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-020-01016-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-020-01016-8

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