Sonographic detection for calcification in thyroid nodule

Objective To investigate the significance of sonographic patterns of thyroid calcification in diagnosis of thyroid nodule.Methods 235 patients with 355 thyroid nodules were retrospectively analyzed.Nodule calcification size,distribution and pattern were observed.Results The incidence of calcification in benign and malignant nodules was 30.3％ (89/294)and 73.7％ (45/61) respectively.The difference had statistical significance(x2 =24.3,P ＜0.01).The rate of microcalcification in cancer was 47.5％ (29/61),higher than that in benign one 3.1％ (9/294)(x2 =99.1,P ＜ 0.01).Coarse calcification in benign nodules and malignant lesion was 27.2％ (80/294)and 26.2％ (16/61)respectively.The difference had no statistical significance(x2 =0.42,P ＞0.05).Conclusions Microcalcification of thyroid nodules is a specific index for thyroid carcinoma.Any type of sonographically detected calcification represents risk of malignancy.Not only microcalcification,these cases should raise the suspicion of malignancy in coarse calcification,especially involving a solitary nodule and irregular shape. Key words: Ultrasonography;  Thyroid nodule; Calcification