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Updated: Mar 8, 2026
A Swin Transformer-Based Model for Thyroid Nodule Detection in Ultrasound Images
Published on: April 21, 2023
Diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonographic features for lymph node metastasis in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: a
Zeming Liu1, Wen Zeng2, Chunping Liu3
1Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Number 1277, Jiefang Road, Wuhan, Hubei Province, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Whether sonography is an appropriate imaging modality for cervical lymph nodes in patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) remains unclear. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of ultrasonography (US) features for lymph node metastasis in PTMC.
Methods:
Seven hundred twelve patients with PTMC who underwent conventional ultrasonography examinations of the cervical lymph nodes were included. All included cases underwent total thyroidectomy plus prophylactic central lymph node dissection. The included lymph nodes were marked superficially, and the corresponding lymph nodes were completely removed and sent for pathological examination. The US features of lymph nodes with and without metastasis were compared, and the odds ratios of the suspicious US features were determined with univariate and multivariate analyses.
Results:
Round shape, loss of an echogenic fatty hilum, cystic change, calcification, and abnormal vascularity were significantly more common in metastatic than nonmetastatic lymph nodes, whereas the boundary and echo did not significantly differ. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that round shape, loss of echogenic fatty hilum, cystic change, calcification, and abnormal vascularity were independent predictive factors for the assessment of metastatic lymph nodes. Round shape had the highest sensitivity of all variables, while loss of an echogenic fatty hilum had the highest specificity and accuracy. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, which was calculated to verify the relationship between the various US features and metastatic lymph nodes, was 0.793.
Conclusions:
Our study found that the US features of round shape, cystic change, calcification, loss of echogenic fatty hilum, and abnormal vascularity were useful sonographic criteria for differentiating between cervical lymph nodes with and without metastasis.
