Abstract
Besides biochemical evaluation of thyroid function, imaging plays a central role in the diagnosis process of thyroid pathologies. There are different imaging techniques to study thyroid parenchyma, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), nuclear scintigraphy and ultrasound (US). CT and MRI, although offer a panoramic view of surrounding structures, are not useful for characterization of nodules. FDG-PET (fluoro-deoxy-glucose) may occasionally be helpful in identifying thyroid nodules but with poor specificity between benignity and malignancy. Nuclear scintigraphy can be used for the evaluation of physiologic thyroid function, for the identification for metabolically active and inactive nodules, and for the identification of residual thyroid parenchyma or metastatic disease after thyroidectomy. However, US is the most useful imaging technique for the evaluation of thyroid parenchyma and the study of diffuse and focal diseases.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Nachiappan AC, Metwalli ZA, Hailey BS, Patel RA, Ostrowsk ML, Wynne DM. The thyroid: review of imaging features and biopsy techniques with radiologic-pathologic correlation. Radiographics. 2014;34:276–93.
Alexander LF, Patel NJ, Caserta MP, Robbin ML. Thyroid ultrasound: diffuse and nodular disease. Radiol Clin North Am. 2020;58:1041–57.
Dighe M, Barr R, Bojunga J, Cantisani V, Chammas MC, Cosgrove D, et al. Thyroid ultrasound: state of the art part 1 - thyroid ultrasound reporting and diffuse thyroid diseases. Med Ultrason. 2017;19:79–93.
Dighe M, Barr R, Bojunga J, Cantisani V, Chammas MC, Cosgrove D, et al. Thyroid ultrasound: state of the art. Part 2 - Focal thyroid lesions. Med Ultrason. 2017;19:195–210.
Russ G, Bonnema SJ, Erdogan MF, Durante C, Ngu R, Leenhardt L. European Thyroid Association guidelines for ultrasound malignancy risk stratification of thyroid nodules in adults: the EU-TIRADS. Eur Thyroid J. 2017;6:225–37.
Tessler FN, Middleton WD, Grant EG, Hoang JK, Berland LL, Teefey SA, et al. ACR Thyroid Imaging, Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS): White Paper of the ACR TI-RADS Committee. J Am Coll Radiol. 2017;14:587–95.
System D, User TA, Middleton WD, Grant EG. Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System (TI-RADS): a user’s guide. Radiology. 2018;287:29.
Shin JH, Baek JH, Chung J, Ha EJ, Kim JH, Lee YH, et al. Ultrasonography diagnosis and imaging-based management of thyroid nodules: Revised Korean society of thyroid radiology consensus statement and recommendations. Korean J Radiol. 2016;17:370–95.
Stoian D, Bogdan T, Craina M, Craciunescu M, Timar R, Schiller A. Elastography: a new ultrasound technique in nodular thyroid pathology. In: Thyroid cancer - advances in diagnosis and therapy. London: InTech; 2016. https://doi.org/10.5772/64374.
Trimboli P, Guglielmi R, Monti S, Misischi I, Graziano F, Nasrollah N, et al. Ultrasound sensitivity for thyroid malignancy is increased by real-time elastography: a prospective multicenter study. J Clin Endocrinol Metabol. 2012;97:4524–30.
Zhao CK, Xu HX. Ultrasound elastography of the thyroid: principles and current status. Ultrasonography. 2019;38:106–24.
Zhan J, Ding H. Application of contrast-enhanced ultrasound for evaluation of thyroid nodules. Ultrasonography. 2018;37:288–97.
Schiaffino S, Serpi F, Rossi D, Ferrara V, Buonomenna C, Alì M, et al. Reproducibility of ablated volume measurement is higher with contrast-enhanced ultrasound than with B-mode ultrasound after benign thyroid nodule radiofrequency ablation—a preliminary study. J Clin Med. 2020;9:1504.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Serpi, F., Gitto, S., Mauri, G., Sconfienza, L.M. (2021). Techniques to Study Thyroid Function and Morphology. In: Luzi, L. (eds) Thyroid, Obesity and Metabolism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80267-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80267-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-80266-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-80267-7
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)