Related Experiment Video For Biopsia
Updated: Mar 19, 2026
A Swin Transformer-Based Model for Thyroid Nodule Detection in Ultrasound Images
Published on: April 21, 2023
Usefulness of semiquantitative elastography in predicting malignancy in thyroid nodules
C Franco Uliaque1, F J Pardo Berdún1, R Laborda Herrero2
1Servicio de Radiodiagnóstico, Centro Médico de Especialidades Ramón y Cajal, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza, España.
Objective:
To retrospectively review the diagnostic capacity of semiquantitative elastography in differentiating between benign and malignant thyroid nodules.
Patients And Methods:
We analyzed 314 thyroid nodules in 295 consecutive patients referred to the endocrinology department for cytological study, studying all by conventional ultrasonography, elastography, and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC). Using a semiquantitative elastography system that portrays tissue stiffness through a color map, we designed our own classification system for thyroid nodules based on their characteristics on elastography. We classified nodules into three groups: predominantly soft, predominantly stiff, and mosaic patterned. We used logistic regression analysis to investigate the relation between elastography and thyroid cancer.
Results:
We obtained a definite diagnosis of malignancy after surgery in 19 nodules, of which on elastography 8 had the mosaic pattern, 6 were predominantly stiff, and 5 were predominantly soft. We found no significant association between the pattern on elastography and the probability of malignancy in any of the models.
Conclusion:
According to our study, la probability of malignancy in a thyroid nodule is not related to the findings at elastography. Therefore, semiquantitative elastography as used in this study cannot obviate FNAC.
