Clinical features and ultrasound characteristics of benign and malignant thyroid nodules

The clinical data and ultrasound findings of 185 patients with thyroid nodules undergoing thyroidectomy from June to December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Postoperative pathology confirmed malignant thyroid nodules in 86 cases and benign nodules in 99 cases. The ultrasonographic findings showed that there were significant differences in obscure boundary [51% (44/86) vs.16%(16/99)], hypoecho [(95% (82/86) vs.27% (27/99)], internal micro-calcification [63%(54/86) vs.21%(21/99)] and lymph node enlargement [33%(28/86) vs.5%(5/99)] between malignant and benign nodules (all P 0.05). The results indicate that TI-RADS grading and thyroid immunity index are valuable for differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Key words: Thyroid nodule; Ultrasonography, Doppler, color