Background: Sonoelastography is a new ultrasound method which could be helpful to determine which thyroid nodule is malignant. We designed this study to evaluate the accuracy of sonoelastography in differentiating of benign and malignant thyroid nodules in Iranian patients.Methods: Forty thyroid nodules in forty consecutive patients who had been referred for sonography?guided fine?needle aspiration biopsy were evaluated. Gray scale ultrasound and elastosonography by real?time, freehand technique applied for all patients. Elastography findings were classified into four groups. Nodules which were classified as patterns 1 or 2 in elastogram evaluation were classified as benign and probably malignant if elastogram scans were patterns 3 and 4 of elastogram scan.Results: Mean age ± standard deviation (SD) was 42.2 ± 12.6 years, and mean ± SD thyroid?timulating hormone level was 1.4 ± 1.9 IU/ml. Thirty?ive cases (87.5%) were female and 5 (12.5%) were male.Histological examination indicated 27 (67.5%) benign and 13 (32.5%) malignant nodules. The most elastogram score was 2 (50%) followed by score 3. The cut?ff point of 2 considered as the best value to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules with sensitivity and specificity of 61% and 78% (area under the curve=0.76, 95% confidence interval: 0.6–.92, P=0.007).Conclusions: Sonoelastography could help to differentiate benign and malignant thyroid nodules.As our sample size was limited, larger studies are recommended.
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机译：背景：超声弹性成像是一种新的超声检查方法，有助于确定哪个甲状腺结节是恶性的。我们设计了这项研究，以评估超声弹性成像在区分伊朗患者的良性和恶性甲状腺结节中的准确性。方法：评估了连续40例接受超声引导下的细针穿刺活检的患者中的40例甲状腺结节。通过实时，徒手技术进行的灰度超声和弹性超声检查适用于所有患者。弹性成像结果分为四组。如果弹性成像扫描为弹性成像扫描的模式3和4，则在弹性成像评估中被分类为模式1或2的结节被分类为良性甚至恶性。结果：平均年龄±标准差（SD）为42.2±12.6岁，平均± SD促甲状腺激素水平为1.4±1.9 IU / ml。女性30例（87.5％），男性5例（12.5％），组织学检查显示良性结节27例（67.5％），恶性结节13例（32.5％）。弹性图得分最高的是2（50％），其次是得分3。2的cutff点被认为是区分良性和恶性甲状腺结节的最佳值，敏感性和特异性分别为61％和78％（曲线下面积= 0.76，95％置信区间：0.6–.92，P = 0.007）。结论：超声弹性成像可以帮助区分甲状腺良性和恶性结节。由于我们的样本量有限，建议进行更大的研究。
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