Clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in diagnosis of thyroid nodules

Objective To evaluate the value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound(CEUS) in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules. Methods Seventy-five patients with 82 thyroid nodules were examined by conventional ultrasound(US)(36 nodules) and conventional US plus CEUS(46 nodules) in our hospital from January 2014 to December 2014. There were 14 males and 61 females involved in this study with mean age of(46.23±12.47) years(range from 17 to 80 years). The US and CEUS features of nodules were comparably analyzed on the basis of pathologic results by US-guided core needle biopsy. Results There were some differences on CEUS presentations between malignant and benign thyroid nodules. Most of the malignant thyroid nodules showed inhomogeneous hypo-enhancement, while, most of the benign thyroid nodules showed homogeneous iso- or hyperenhancement. With pathology as the only standard, the coincidence rate of CEUS imaging in the diagnosis of malignant nodules and pathological diagnosis was 87.5%. Conclusion CEUS is a useful method in the differential diagnosis between benign and malignant thyroid nodules.