title: Quantitative Evaluation of Vascularity Using 2-D Power Doppler Ultrasonography May Not Identify Malignancy of the Thyroid.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a quantitative vascular index in predicting thyroid malignancy. A total of 1309 thyroid nodules in 1257 patients (mean age: 50.2 y, range: 18-83 y) were included. The vascularity pattern and vascular index (VI) measured by quantification software for each nodule were obtained from 2-D power Doppler ultrasonography (US). Gray-scale US + vascularity pattern was compared with gray-scale US + VI with respect to diagnostic performance. Of the 1309 thyroid nodules, 927 (70.8%) were benign and 382 (29.2%) were malignant. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (Az) for gray-scale US (0.82) was significantly higher than that for US combined with vascularity pattern (0.77) or VI (0.70, all p < 0.001). Quantified VIs were higher in benign nodules, but did not improve the performance of 2-D US in diagnosing thyroid malignancy.
authors: Department of Radiology, Severance Hospital, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Jung Hyun
authors: JH
authors: Yoon
authors: Department of Radiology, Severance Hospital, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Hyun Joo
authors: HJ
authors: Shin
authors: Department of Radiology, Severance Hospital, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Eun-Kyung
authors: EK
authors: Kim
authors: Department of Radiology, Severance Hospital, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Hee Jung
authors: HJ
authors: Moon
authors: Biostatistics Collaboration Unit, Medical Research Center, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Yun Ho
authors: YH
authors: Roh
authors: Department of Radiology, Severance Hospital, Research Institute of Radiological Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. Electronic address: docjin@yuhs.ac.
authors: Jin Young
authors: JY
authors: Kwak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016606:Thyroid Nodule / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Doppler; Neoplasm; Thyroid; Ultrasound; Vascularity