Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 20, 2026
Author Spotlight: Integrating Ultrasound Imaging with Biochemical Markers for Thyroid Disease Diagnosis
Published on: February 9, 2024
Is Diagnostic Performance of Quantitative 2D-Shear Wave Elastography Optimal for Clinical Classification of Benign
Haliimah A Nattabi1, Norhafidzah M Sharif1, Noorazrul Yahya1
1Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy Programme, School of Diagnostic and Applied Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Jalan Raja Muda Abdul Aziz, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Rationale And Objective:
This study is a dedicated 2D-shear wave elastography (2D-SWE) review aimed at systematically eliciting up-to-date evidence of its clinical value in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules.
Methods:
PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched for studies assessing the diagnostic value of 2D-SWE for thyroid malignancy risk stratification published until December 2016. The retrieved titles and abstracts were screened and evaluated according to the predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy included in Systematic Review 2 (QUADAS-2) tool. Extracted 2D-SWE diagnostic performance data were meta-analyzed to assess the summary sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.
Results:
After stepwise review, 14 studies in which 2D-SWE was used to evaluate 2851 thyroid nodules (1092 malignant, 1759 benign) from 2139 patients were selected for the current study. Study quality on QUADAS-2 assessment was moderate to high. The summary sensitivity, specificity and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 2D-SWE for differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules were 0.66 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.64-0.69), 0.78 (CI: 0.76-0.80), and 0.851 (Q* = 0.85), respectively. The pooled diagnostic odds ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and positive likelihood ratio were 12.73 (CI: 8.80-18.43), 0.31 (CI: 0.22-0.44), and 3.87 (CI: 2.83-5.29), respectively.
Conclusion:
Diagnostic performance of quantitative 2D-SWE for malignancy risk stratification of thyroid nodules is suboptimal with mediocre sensitivity and specificity, contrary to earlier reports of excellence.
