[Hyoid body morphology of thyroglossal duct cyst: a comparative study based on imaging]

Objective:To provide reference for preoperative diagnosis and treatment of thyroglossal duct cyst by studying the morphological changes of hyoid body. Methods:The CT data（midsagittal image） of congenital thyroglossal duct cyst（TGDC group） diagnosed by pathology and the control group（C group） were collected from January 2016 to October 2021. The differences of hyoid body height（HBH）, hyoid body width（HBW）, hyoid bone thickness（HBT）, HBW/HBH, HBT/HBH between the two groups were compared. HBH, HBW and HBT were analyzed by t-test; The HBW/HBH and HBT/HBH were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test. Results:Twenty-nine cases were included in the TGDC group and 58 in the C group. The HBH in the TGDC group was（8.93 ±0.22） mm and that in the C group was（8.94±0.12） mm, there was no significant difference between the two groups（P>0.05）. The HBW in the TGDC group and the C group were（5.09±0.21） mm and（4.48±0.11） mm, and the HBT were（3.84±0.12） mm and（3.13±0.08） mm, respectively, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant（P<0.05）. The average rank sum of HBW/HBH in the TGDC group and the C group was 53.95 and 39.03, respectively, and the average rank sum of HBT/HBH was 59.90 and 36.05, respectively, the difference between the two groups was statistically significant（P<0.05）. Conclusion:The morphological changes of hyoid body of thyroglossal duct cyst may be helpful for preoperative diagnosis, and it also suggests that hyoid body resection may reduce the possibility of postoperative recurrence.