ARFI elastography for the evaluation of diffuse thyroid gland pathology: Preliminary results

Area of Science:

• Medical Imaging
• Diagnostic Ultrasound
• Thyroidology

Background:

• Thyroid parenchyma differentiation between normal and pathological states is crucial for diagnosis.
• Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) elastography offers a non-invasive approach to assess tissue stiffness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of ARFI elastography in distinguishing normal thyroid tissue from pathological thyroid parenchyma.
• To determine if ARFI elastography can identify diffuse thyroid diseases.

Main Methods:

• 136 subjects were evaluated, including healthy individuals and patients with Graves' disease (GD), chronic autoimmune thyroiditis (CAT), diffuse goiter, and amiodarone-induced thyroid pathology.
• ARFI elastography measurements were performed on both thyroid lobes, calculating median stiffness values in meters/second (m/s).

Main Results:

• Thyroid stiffness (TS) was significantly lower in healthy subjects (2 ± 0.40 m/s) compared to GD (2.67 ± 0.53 m/s) and CAT patients (2.43 ± 0.58 m/s).
• An optimal cut-off value of 2.36 m/s demonstrated 62.5% sensitivity and 79.5% specificity for detecting diffuse thyroid pathology (AUROC = 0.804).
• No significant differences in TS values were observed between linear and convex probes or with varying numbers of measurements.

Conclusions:

• ARFI elastography is a potentially useful tool for assessing diffuse thyroid gland pathology.
• The technique provides a non-invasive method for evaluating thyroid stiffness and differentiating disease states.