title: Diagnostic performance of combined elastosonography scoring and high-resolution ultrasonography for the differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the combined use of elstosonography (USE) scoring and high-resolution ultrasonography (HRUS) for the differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodule.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-seven consecutive patients with 66 thyroid nodules were enrolled in the present study. Thyroid surgery had been already planned for all the patients. All of them were submitted to high-resolution ultrasonography and elastography scoring at the same sitting. The latter was determined with 5-point scoring method. The examination results were compared against pathological findings as the gold standard of reference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive, and negative predictive values of HRUS in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules were 92.0%, 72.9%, 60.1%, 95.0%, and 63.1%, respectively, while that of ultrasound elastography scoring were 75.4%, 85.5%, 86.7%, 71.4%, and 90.5%, respectively. Combined use of both US techniques resulted in a higher diagnostic performance as it showed 95.4%, 94.8%, 95.2%, 82.3% and 98.8% sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive, and negative predictive values, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of combined USE and HRS for the differentiation of benign and malignant thyroid nodules resulted in a high diagnostic performance and a significant statistical difference as compared to HRUS or USE alone (P=0.003).
authors: Radiology Department, El Minia University Hospital, El Minia, Egypt. mohshweel@yahoo.com
authors: Mohamed
authors: M
authors: Shweel
authors: Ehab
authors: E
authors: Mansour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult