The value of strain ratio in differential diagnosis of thyroid solid nodules

Abstract

Objective: To assess the clinical value of strain ratio in differentiating thyroid solid nodules and explore its distribution characters based on pathological results.

Materials and methods: The study was approved by the ethic committee and the informed consents were signed. Ninety nine solid thyroid nodules (67 benign and 32 malignant) from 71 female (mean age 46.3 ± 9.8 years) and 28 male (mean age 54.9 ± 11.7 years) patients were evaluated. Five radiologists evaluated the nodules based on a four-degree elastography score system. Strain ratio was calculated on-line. Diagnostic performances of the two evaluations were compared using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves. Values of different pathological nodules were compared by one-way ANOVA.

Results: Areas under the ROC curve (AUC) of the five readers were 0.82, 0.81, 0.79, 0.73 and 0.83, respectively. The AUC of strain ratio evaluation was higher (0.88 vs. 0.79, p < 0.001) than that of the ES score evaluation. Best cut-off points of the two evaluations were 3.5 (82% sensitivity, 72% specificity) and 4.225 (81% sensitivity, 83% specificity), respectively. Both the ES score and strain ratio were higher for malignant nodules than that for benign ones (p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Strain ratio was a useful index in differential diagnosis of thyroid solid nodules. It can provide quantitative information on thyroid nodule characterization and improve diagnostic confidence. The best cut-off point for benign and malignant nodules was 4.2.