Assessing Diagnostic Value of Combining Ultrasound and MRI in Extrathyroidal Extension of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Shudong Hu; Heng Zhang; Yanqi Zhong; Enock Adjei Agyekum; Zongqiong Sun; Yuxi Ge; Jie Li; Weiqiang Dou; Junlin He; Hong Xiang; Yuandong Wang; Xiaoqin Qian; Xian Wang

doi:10.2147/CMAR.S350032

Assessing Diagnostic Value of Combining Ultrasound and MRI in Extrathyroidal Extension of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma

Cancer Manag Res. 2022 Mar 29:14:1285-1292. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S350032. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Shudong Hu^#^{1

2}, Heng Zhang^#^{1

2}, Yanqi Zhong^#³, Enock Adjei Agyekum^#², Zongqiong Sun¹, Yuxi Ge¹, Jie Li⁴, Weiqiang Dou⁵, Junlin He⁶, Hong Xiang⁷, Yuandong Wang⁸, Xiaoqin Qian², Xian Wang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Ultrasound, Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China.
³ School of Medicine, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Department of Interventional Radiology, Affiliated Hospital, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, People's Republic of China.
⁵ GE Healthcare, MR Research China, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
⁶ Department of Radiology, Tinglin Hospital of Jinshan District, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
⁷ Department of Pediatric, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China.
⁸ Department of Radiotherapy, Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: To explore the separate diagnostic value of preoperative ultrasound (US), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and the combination of US and MRI in extrathyroidal extension (ETE) of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC).

Materials and methods: This retrospective study was approved by the Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University review board. A total of 158 PTC patients with ETE received preoperative US and MRI examination and underwent surgery between May 2014 and December 2018 in Affiliated People's Hospital of Jiangsu University. For each case, the US and MRI features of ETE were retrospectively and independently investigated by two radiologists. The clinical assessment for each case was implemented, respectively, using US imaging only, MRI only, and a combination of both modalities at three different time points with one-month intervals.

Results: The diagnostic accuracies of US, MRI, and the combined set for T3 (minimal ETE) were 91.7% (88/96), 74.0% (71/96), and 97.9% (94/96), respectively, indicating a significantly different performance (P < 0.001). The diagnostic accuracies for T4 (extensive ETE) were 62.9% (39/62), 87.1% (54/62), and 93.5% (58/62), respectively. The difference between the three methods for T4 was statistically significant (P = 0.000). The diagnostic accuracies for overall ETE were 80.4% (127/158), 79.1% (125/158), and 96.2% (152/158), respectively. The difference between the three methods for ETE was statistically significant (P = 0.001).

Conclusion: This study suggests that ETE can be predicted most accurately by the combination of preoperative US and MRI.

Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging; neoplasm staging; thyroid cancer; ultrasonography.

Grants and funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was financially supported by Jiangsu University Clinical Medical Science and Technology Development (Project No.JLY2021001), Zhenjiang Commission of Science and Technology (Project No. SH2020046, Project No. SH2018050, Project No. SH2018056).