Clinic value of sonographic detection for thyroid calcification patterns

Objective To evaluate significance of thyroid calcification sonographic patterns in the diagnosis of thyroid carcinoma. Methods 191 thyroid nodules in 121 patients were examined on preoperative ultrasonography. Results Calcification was detected in 72(38%) nodules, 41(57%) of which was histologically diagnosed as carcinoma. According to the calcification types, 12(86%) nodules with microcalcification, 23(52%) nodules with intranodular coarse calcification, 5(45%) nodules with peripheral calcification and 1(33%) solitary calcified spots without surrounding tumor were diagnosed as cancer. Conclusion Calcification is a characteristic index for thyroid carcinoma, from the perspective of carcinoma screening, any type of sonographically detected calcifications represents a risk of malignancy, not only microcalcification, but other types of calcification should also be thoroughly examined.