The feasibility of ultrasonic elastography score to evaluate the progression of Hashimoto's thyroiditis

Objective To investigate the value of ultrasound elastography in the diagnosis of progression of Hashimoto's thyroiditis(HT).Methods One hundred and six patients clinically diagnosed as HT were enrolled in this study.According to the function of thyroid,the patients were classified into four groups:the hyperthyroidism group,the euthyroidism group,the subclinical hypothyroidism group and the clinical hypothyroidism group.Fifty volunteers with normal thyroid functions were enrolled as control group.All subjects were examined by ultrasound elastography and scored.Results The score increased in the order of the control group,the hyperthyroidism group,the euthyroidism group,the subclinical hypothyroidism group and the clinical hypothyroidism group,the corresponding scores were(1.036±0.216),(1.757±0.527),(2.334±0.450),(2.391±0.541)and(2.683±0.460),respectively.The elastographic grades in the control group were lower comparing to the hyperthyroidism group,the euthyroidism group,the subclinical hypothyroidism group and the clinical hypothyroidism group,(t=4.580,9.992,9.426,11.156,all P0.01).The HT patients with hyperthyroidism had lower elastographic grades than patients in the euthyroidism group,the subclinical hypothyroidism group and the clinical hypothyroidism group(t=3.483,3.590,5.146,all P0.01).HT patiens with euthyroidism had lower elastographic grades than the other HT patients with clinical hypothyroidism(t=2.227,P0.05).The serum TSH of the control group,the hyperthyroidism group,the euthyroidism group,the subclinical hypothyroidism group,the clinical hypothyroidism group were(2.24±0.26),(0.06±0.12),(2.14±1.02),(10.79±6.25)and(46.94±23.78)μIU/ml,respectively.The Spearman's correlation coefficient between the elasticity scores and the serum TSH was 0.494(P=0.000).The equation of linear regression was presented as Y=1.763+0.014X(Y=elasticity score,X=serum TSH);the elasticity score increased with the rise of serum TSH.Conclusion Elastography is valuable to assess the progression of HT.