CT differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules

Objective:To analyze the CT features of thyroid nodules,in order to assess the value of CT in the diffe-rential diagnosis of benign and malignant lesions.Methods:The CT findings including margin,attenuation,calcification,capsule as well as the mode and the degree of enhancement of 120 thyroid nodules(108 patients) were retrospectively analyzed and correlated with pathology,the differences of benign or malignant nodules were compared.Results:Significant statistical differences were existed between benign/malignant nodules in the aspects of ill-defined margin,micro-calcifications,encapsulation and the number of nodules(P0.05).For the diagnosis of malignant nodule,the sensitivity of ill-defined margin,existence of micro-calcifications,non-capsulation and solitary in number was 45.5%,36.4%,100%,90.9% respectively,the specificity was 83.7%、94.9%、22.4%、36.0% respectively,and the accuracy was 83.6%、91.8%、36.7%、48.1% respectively.Conclusion:Certain imaging characteristics were assessed in benign and malignant thyroid nodules,ill-defined margin and micro-calcifications are the characteristic features of malignant nodules;well-capsulation and cystic components are the characteristic features of benign nodules.