Strain Elastography: A Non-Invasive Modality for Extrathyroidal Extension Assessment in Papillary Thyroid Cancer

This study investigated the value of strain elastography (SE) in assessing extrathyroidal extension (ETE) in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). A total of 277 PTC nodules from 245 patients were included. SE demonstrated higher consistency with pathology compared to US (Kappa value: 0.735 vs. 0.562, p = 0.000, respectively). SE also showed superior specificity (91.4% vs. 74.1%, p = 0.000) and accuracy (87.7% vs. 78.3%, p = 0.003) in diagnosing ETE. The area under the curve for SE was significantly higher than for US (0.865 vs. 0.798, p = 0.006). Age and calcification influenced SE's diagnostic performance. SE is a promising noninvasive tool for ETE assessment in PTC.